Anti-minority votes and judicial review

Abstract

The question of whether popular votes on minority rights are compatible with a liberal democracy has been broadly debated, with judicial review of popular initiatives having been discussed as a necessary veto point (Eule, Miller). As an institutional change should generally be congruent with voters' preferences, this article asks who supports the restriction of direct democracy by judicial review and how this is related to voting behavior concerning anti-civil-rights initiatives. Two recent anti-minority votes in California and Switzerland provide examples in terms of voters' attitudes towards judicial review of direct democracy. Cross-tables and logistic regressions of survey data show that a surprisingly broad majority of voters support judicial review of popular initiatives in both cases. Nevertheless, judicial review is not entirely uncontroversial. In Switzerland, opposition to judicial review can even predict anti-minority votes, and for specific judicial decisions, Californians also tend to blame judges for restricting the people's sovereignty.

The New Cultural Conflict, Polarization, and Representation in the Swiss Party System, 1975–2011

“…Not only does the SVP see multiculturalism as a danger for entrenched traditions and social norms, it also claims that no limits should be imposed on popular sovereignty by supra‐national bodies, constitutional courts, or human rights conventions. Because the SVP at times succeeds in rallying majorities behind popular initiatives, the transformation of cultural conflicts results in a tension between representation and the liberal democratic institutions serving to protect fundamental civil rights and the rights of minorities (see Vatter and Danaci ; Christmann , ). The behavior of center‐right voters plays a pivotal role in this respect.…”

Disentangling Referendums and Direct Democracy: A Defence of the Systemic Approach to Popular Vote Processes

“…Representative democracy, by avoiding these pitfalls, provides in their view a preferable democratic ideal (Plotke 1997;Mansbridge 2003;Urbinati 2006). In empirical studies, research on popular vote processes has largely focused on better understanding whether ordinary citizens can learn and make informed decisions (see e.g., Lupia 1994;Kriesi 2005a;Colombo 2018), whether these processes harm minorities (see e.g., Hajnal, Gerber, and Louch 2002;Marxer 2012;Christmann 2013), or whether the influence of interest groups can manipulate the 'will of the people' (see e.g., Gerber 1999;Matsusaka 2004;Boehmke 2005).…”