Open AccessParliament–government–citizens. The place of the institution of direct democracy in the discussion on the shape of San Marino-European Union relations in the context of the referendum of 2013
Author(s) -
Marcin Łukaszewski
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
przegląd politologiczny
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2956-5081
pISSN - 1426-8876
DOI - 10.14746/pp.2021.26.4.6
Subject(s) - parliament , referendum , democracy , european union , political science , institution , opposition (politics) , politics , direct democracy , accession , representative democracy , context (archaeology) , public administration , political economy , democratic deficit , element (criminal law) , law , sociology , economics , international trade , geography , archaeology
The subject of the article is the issue of using the institutions of direct democracy in the process of shaping the directions of a very specific element of foreign policy – relations with the European Union, of which San Marino is not a member. While most of the referenda related to the European Union concern the accession of countries to this organization, the vote in 2013 was of a slightly different nature. Therefore, the author attempts to indicate how the use of the instruments of direct democracy by citizens, in a way in opposition to the institution of indirect democracy (parliament and its dependent government), can contribute to the decision-makers making political decisions desired by citizens, even in seemingly rather unusual (apart from the aforementioned accession referenda) for direct democracy, spheres as the directions of foreign policy.