Periodic Reporting for period 4 - LIDD (Popular Sovereignty vs. the Rule of Law? Defining the Limits of Direct Democracy)
Período documentado: 2023-05-01 hasta 2024-04-30
With the mushrooming of direct-democratic instruments throughout Europe and the introduction of the European Citizens` Initiative (ECI), the relationship between popular sovereignty and the rule of law is set to become one of the defining political issues of our time. Where should the legal limits of direct democracy be drawn? Who should review compliance with these limits? It is the objective of LIDD to provide the scientific basis for answering these questions.
This European Research Council (ERC) funded project builds on a comparative legal analysis, making it possible to capitalize on the wealth of experience gained with direct-democratic instruments in Switzerland and, more recently, other European states in order to develop general conclusions.
LIDD pursues three main objectives:
1) To help European states to define and apply the limits of direct democracy in an appropriate way
2) To contribute to the development of better institutional and procedural systems for reviewing compliance of direct-democratic instruments with these limits
3) To elaborate specific proposals for improving the admissibility test for the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI)
Analysis of these laws and practices with regard to the underlying tension between popular sovereignty and the rule of law: Various publications