EUROPEAN STUDIES

"It is often argued that national referendums on EU matters can be a cure for the democratic deficit of the EU and its policies. But what can we learn from a country like Switzerland about how and when direct democracy works? Eva Thomann (University of Exeter), Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen (Universität Bern), and Eva G. Heidbreder (Universität Magdeburg) conclude that referendums in the EU usually lack the necessary institutional and administrative links between direct and representative decision-making to have legitimacy-enhancing effects."¹

Referendums are not a simple cure for the EU’s democratic deficit.

Would you agree?