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Referendums and Institutional Theory

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The Politics of Referendum Use in European Democracies

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Abstract

Most referendum research is inspired by sociological institutionalist theory and traces the use of referendums back to an alleged crisis of representative democracy. The aim of referendum research is usually not to explain why referendums are designed in different ways in different countries, nor why political actors in some countries are more likely to use them. To provide a better understanding of referendum practices, and how that varies among countries, this chapter provides an analytical framework that combines sociological institutionalism with insights from classical institutionalism, which places strong emphasis on a country’s existing institutional context, historical institutionalism, which examines the role of path dependency in choices to institutionalize and use referendums, and rational choice institutionalism, which explains referendums in terms of political actors’ strategic interests.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The distinction between intrinsic and instrumental values to support democracy has been elaborated by Bratton and Mattes (2001).

  2. 2.

    The view that referendums solve voting paradoxes is challenged by Elizabeth Anscombe (1981). Anscombe stresses that referendums create a reversed Ostrogorski paradox as, by separating issues on which preferences are interdependent, alternatives may be defeated that would have been preferred by a majority of the voters if the issues had been voted on in a more compound manner.

  3. 3.

    The distinction between outcome-contingent and act-contingent motivations to support electoral reform has been elaborated by Reed and Thies (2001).

  4. 4.

    The distinction between policy-, vote- and office-seeking objectives has been elaborated by Strøm (1990).

  5. 5.

    The distinction between offensive and defensive strategies has been elaborated by Oppermann (2011).

  6. 6.

    Dissatisfaction with democracy: Eurobarometer Interactive Search System 1973–2017 (autumn surveys; spring surveys for 1974, 2006, 2010, 2017; EVS 1999, 2008); Distrust political parties: Eurobarometer Interactive Search System 2003–2017 (autumn surveys; spring surveys for 2010, 2017); Distrust parliament: Eurobarometer Interactive Search System 2003–2017 (autumn surveys; spring surveys for 2010, 2017); Distrust government: Eurobarometer Interactive Search System 2003–2017 (autumn surveys; spring surveys for 2010, 2017).

  7. 7.

    Lack of support EU membership: Eurobarometer Interactive Search System 1983–2011 (autumn surveys; spring surveys for 2010, 2011); No benefits EU membership: Eurobarometer Interactive Search System 1983–2011 (autumn surveys; spring surveys for 1983, 2010, 2011); Dissatisfaction EU democracy: Eurobarometer Interactive Search System 1993–2015 (spring surveys for 1995, 2005, 2006, 2010); Distrust of EU: Eurobarometer Interactive Search System 2003–2017 (autumn surveys; spring surveys for 2010, 2017).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Director of Knowledge Management, The Broker, Den Haag, The Netherlands

    Saskia Hollander

  2. Research fellow, Department of Public Administration and Political Science, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Saskia Hollander

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Hollander, S. (2019). Referendums and Institutional Theory. In: The Politics of Referendum Use in European Democracies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04197-7_3

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