Abstract
One of the main goals of those who fought for the incorporation of direct-democratic elements in contemporary democracies was pedagogical. The leaders of the democratic movement in the Swiss cantons of the late 1860’s and the reformers of the progressive movement in the US west-coast states in the early 20th century, or those who have been engaged in the democracy initiative in the province of Southern Tyrol in the northern part of Italy during the 1990’s and in the first decade of the 21st century: their common aim in fighting for direct democracy was to educate people better, to bring more discussion and debate into public politics, to achieve decisions which derive from better-informed decision-makers. They all saw this as a contribution to a society which learned more and better in the interests of all.1
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Gross, A. (2007). The design determines the quality — some criteria for determining the design and the quality of direct democracy. In: Pállinger, Z.T., Kaufmann, B., Marxer, W., Schiller, T. (eds) Direct Democracy in Europe. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-90579-2_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-90579-2_5
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