Direct democracy and the rise of political entrepreneurs: an analysis of citizens' initiatives in post-2010 Croatia
The last decade saw a rise in the use of direct democracy in Croatia. The proliferation of citizens' initiatives and referendums was meant to activate politically passive citizens and to strengthen their role as controllers of the executive. Our research, based on the qualitative analysis of th...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Anali Hrvatskog Politološkog Društva |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/336808 |
| _version_ | 1827282569535684608 |
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| author | Dario Čepo Dario Nikić Čakar |
| author_facet | Dario Čepo Dario Nikić Čakar |
| author_sort | Dario Čepo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The last decade saw a rise in the use of direct democracy in Croatia. The proliferation of citizens' initiatives and referendums was meant to activate politically passive citizens and to strengthen their role as controllers of the executive. Our research, based on the qualitative analysis of the legal framework on citizens' initiatives and referendums in Croatia, as well as post-2010 initiatives, showed that this was not the case. Instead, political and social entrepreneurs, both long established, like trade unions, and newly formed, like conservative civil society organizations, used the tools of direct democracy to promote their particular anti-minority, anti-government or anti-establishment agendas. They succeeded in both constraining the power of the elite through the process of getting to the referendum and wresting control over the agenda-setting process post hoc. The added value of this paper lies in showing that citizens' initiatives can succeed in getting their demands met even when they are not successful in organizing referendums, which is due to weaknesses in the legal framework surrounding referendums and initiatives. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T09:20:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-82fc49b4e83a4873800ececc6c2144a1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1845-6707 1847-5299 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T09:20:25Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Anali Hrvatskog Politološkog Društva |
| spelling | doaj.art-82fc49b4e83a4873800ececc6c2144a12024-04-15T16:00:06ZengFaculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, CroatiaAnali Hrvatskog Politološkog Društva1845-67071847-52992019-01-0116110.20901/an.16.02Direct democracy and the rise of political entrepreneurs: an analysis of citizens' initiatives in post-2010 CroatiaDario Čepo0Dario Nikić Čakar1Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, CroatiaFaculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, CroatiaThe last decade saw a rise in the use of direct democracy in Croatia. The proliferation of citizens' initiatives and referendums was meant to activate politically passive citizens and to strengthen their role as controllers of the executive. Our research, based on the qualitative analysis of the legal framework on citizens' initiatives and referendums in Croatia, as well as post-2010 initiatives, showed that this was not the case. Instead, political and social entrepreneurs, both long established, like trade unions, and newly formed, like conservative civil society organizations, used the tools of direct democracy to promote their particular anti-minority, anti-government or anti-establishment agendas. They succeeded in both constraining the power of the elite through the process of getting to the referendum and wresting control over the agenda-setting process post hoc. The added value of this paper lies in showing that citizens' initiatives can succeed in getting their demands met even when they are not successful in organizing referendums, which is due to weaknesses in the legal framework surrounding referendums and initiatives.https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/336808referendumcitizens' initiativeagenda-setting powerpolitical entrepreneursCroatia |
| spellingShingle | Dario Čepo Dario Nikić Čakar Direct democracy and the rise of political entrepreneurs: an analysis of citizens' initiatives in post-2010 Croatia Anali Hrvatskog Politološkog Društva referendum citizens' initiative agenda-setting power political entrepreneurs Croatia |
| title | Direct democracy and the rise of political entrepreneurs: an analysis of citizens' initiatives in post-2010 Croatia |
| title_full | Direct democracy and the rise of political entrepreneurs: an analysis of citizens' initiatives in post-2010 Croatia |
| title_fullStr | Direct democracy and the rise of political entrepreneurs: an analysis of citizens' initiatives in post-2010 Croatia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Direct democracy and the rise of political entrepreneurs: an analysis of citizens' initiatives in post-2010 Croatia |
| title_short | Direct democracy and the rise of political entrepreneurs: an analysis of citizens' initiatives in post-2010 Croatia |
| title_sort | direct democracy and the rise of political entrepreneurs an analysis of citizens initiatives in post 2010 croatia |
| topic | referendum citizens' initiative agenda-setting power political entrepreneurs Croatia |
| url | https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/336808 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dariocepo directdemocracyandtheriseofpoliticalentrepreneursananalysisofcitizensinitiativesinpost2010croatia AT darionikiccakar directdemocracyandtheriseofpoliticalentrepreneursananalysisofcitizensinitiativesinpost2010croatia |