Contemporary Direct Democracy: A Conversation with David Altman

David Altman will discuss his book Citizenship and Contemporary Direct Democracy in which he connects the study of direct democracy to the broader field of comparative democratization and to an important strand in normative democratic theory. Analyzing the relationship between direct democracy and representative government, this book is organized around three main sections: the origins of contemporary direct democracy, its functioning, and the ways to improve the use of direct democracy and its abuse.

Altman argues that citizen-initiated mechanisms of direct democracy constitute an important and viable way to re-invigorate current representative regimes by strengthening democracies' normative foundations - freedom and equity among citizens - which are particularly fragile in the context of unequal societies. Citizenship and Contemporary Direct Democracy demonstrates how citizen-initiated mechanisms of direct democracy empowers citizens, channels social demands, defuses violence, re-enchants citizens with politics, and breaks through some of the institutionalized barriers to accountability that arise in representative systems.

Speaker: David Altman, Professor of Political Science and Chair of Comparative Politics at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Luksic Visiting Scholar, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies; Harvard University.

Sponsors: RCC; David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University; The Spanish Caucus, Harvard Kennedy School; the Chilean Caucus, Harvard Kennedy School; Harvard Association of Chilean Studies; Latin American Caucus, Harvard Kennedy School.