The "Fusion" Between Direct Democracy and Representative Democracy Towards a Concept of Participatory Democracy

Abstract

Democracy is an ancient institution that takes us back to ancient Greece, despite its age-old age, has been the center of many philosophical debates several times. Without any doubt this form of government, although very critical, has an extraordinary ability to survive, persist and preserve over the centuries. Perhaps because it has been able to take different forms according to the historical needs of a country. Many authors have focused on the theme of democracy, and argued for ideas other right on its potential survival in the modern, globalized world as we know prevails more representative system of democracy. Today it seems that there is a claim of direct democracy but also there is a certain difficulty of the citizen committed to a life with unbridled pace of being able to reconcile social life with the public life. With the birth of new national and supranational institutional dimensions, such as those of the European Union, there is also a need for a new model of legislative participation, and here we see the birth of a different form of democracy, a middle ground between direct and indirect democracy, that is, participatory democracy. The latter presents itself as a push from below to bring its voice to political, decision-making and legislative institutions. The goal of this analysis, is first of all investigate and reason about what is the best form of democracy, that is direct, or to representative and participatory. To get to these considerations, the argument need for a historical and philosophical journey reaching out to a legal definition. Therefore, the topic will need to be compared with the institutions that are linked to it, such as the European Citizens' Initiative. The ambition is to understand also the democratic challenge of the European institutions, this through a historical, legal and philosophical investigation, with the aim of better understanding the legal reality of an instrument as important as that of democracy, where individuals are primary.