Against the background of the financial crisis that menaces European Integration and the peoples loss of confidence in the effectiveness of democratic governance, the conference at the German-speaking Andrássy Universität Budapest aims at enhancing the understanding of the interplay of direct and indirect democracy. Starting with an overview on the dimensions of the crisis, points of intervention for the application of direct-democratic methods are identified. In a second step, structures of crisis management, in which also direct-democratic instruments play a role, are analyzed. Several case studies serve to corroborate the theoretical findings. Elisabeth Alber from the EURAC-Institute for Studies on Federalism and Regionalism will participate at the conference, which is the fourth in a series of conferences on modern direct democracy that focus on bringing together researchers working in the field of democracy studies.
 
Conference convenors:
Andrássy Universität Budapest
Liechtenstein-Institut – Forschung und Lehre
Forschungsstelle für Bürgerbeteiligung und direkte Demokratie, Universität Marburg
IRI – Initiative and Referendum Europe

Contact: Elisabeth Alber, T 0471 055 211