Links « Activating Democracy

Links and Resources

This page contains links and resources that I consider valuable. It will be expanded.

SONGS

Leonard Cohen – Democracy is Coming

Read the lyrics here

LINKS

Ballotpedia, Portal: Ballot measures

Ballotpedia is a wiki that provides information about direct democracy (ballot measures) in the USA and much more.

democracy international

Democracy international is a coalition of citizens and non-governmental organisations, aiming at the establishment of direct democracy globally on all levels of government: local, regional, national and transnational. It also gives advice for citizens’ initiatives.

Gross, Andreas

Andreas Gross is one of the best known advocates and experts of direct democracy. For him direct democracy is not only profoundly reasonable and practical but also a matter of the heart: without direct democracy we can neither be free nor create a just society.

Initiative & Referendum Institute at the University of Souther California

IRI provides information about initiatives and referendums in the USA.

Initiative and Referendum Institute Europe

IRI Europe is a non-partisan and non-profit association founded in 2001. It operates as a transnational network dedicated to research and education on the procedures and practices of modern direct democracy.

Mehr Demokratie (Austria) [de]

Mehr Demokratie (Austria) was founded in 2006 and consideres itself as a non-partisan competence center for direct democracy. It provides information about direct democracy in Austria.

Mehr Demokratie (Germany) [de]

Mehr Demokratie is an association of citizens with 6’000 members (status 2012) founded in 1988. It is in the heart of the movements for direct democracy and parliamentary reform in Germany and Europe.

Navigator to Direct Democracy

The Navigator to Direct Democracy provides information about direct democracy procedures and practices worldwide. It is a global information and collaboration platform. It is a challenging project, which is based on my general typology of modern direct democracy.

National Initiative for Democracy

The National (Citizens) Initiative For Democracy (NI4D) is a project driven by Mike Gravel. It aims at introducing the right to citizens’ initiative on the national (federal) level in the USA.

Omnibus für direkte Demokratie in Deutschland [de]

Since 1987 the OMNIBUS is touring Germany and Europe with the “long-term goal of laying the foundations for genuine democracy”. It is “a self-governing cultural enterprise”, inspired by Joseph Beuys, that promotes direct democracy, which it defines as “direct legislation by the people through referendums preceded by free public information campaigns”. Some information in English available.

BOOKS online

Direct Democracy. Facts and Arguments

about the Introduction of Initiative and Referendum. 2007. Jos Verhulst and Arjen Nijeboer.
Download PDF here – available in en, de, dk, nl, fr, it, es, sk

Guidebook to Direct Democracy

in Switzerland and Beyond. 2010. Bruno Kaufmann, Rolf Buechi and Nadja Braun.
Download PDF here (on Scribd)

Kohti osallistavaa demokratiaa

Kansanäänestykset demokratian välineenä. 2006. Rolf Buechi. Helsinki: LIKE.
Download PDF from here

Opas suoraan demokratiaan

is a Finnish version of the Guidebook to Direct Democracy. It comes without the factsheets but with additional chapters on Finland and the Movement for the Protection of City Forests (kaupunkimetsäliike). Download PDF from here or from here

BOOKS en

David Altman. 2011. Direct Democracy Worldwide.

Edward Bond. The Hidden Plot.

José Saramago. Blindness.

José Saramago. Seeing.

“José Saramago (…) has written a novel that says more about the days we are living in than any book I have read.” Ursula K Le Guin (read her book review here)

BOOKS fi

Kansan valta – Suora demokratia Suomen politiikan pelastuksena

Ilvessalo Saara & Jaakkola Henrik (toim.)

Kohti osallistavaa demokratiaa

ks. BOOKS online

Opas suoraan demokratiaan

ks. BOOKS online