The growing use of referenda in local politics: a comparison of France and Germany

Christophe Premat (1)

1 CERVL - Pouvoir, Action publique, Territoire

The author analyzes the growing use of referenda in local politics in France and Germany. If participatory instruments are promoted in both countries, the Reunification in Germany helped to implement referenda and popular initiatives at local level whereas in France the decentralisation is not necessarily associated with local democracy. The French local elites control the emergence of these procedures in order to strenghten their local power.

Mots clés: local democracy; referenda; popular initiatives; decentralisation; federal system

Domaines: Science politique

Christophe Premat. The growing use of referenda in local politics: a comparison of France and Germany. Herwig Reynaert, Kristof Steyvers, Pascal Delwit, Jean-Benoît Pilet. Comparative Local Politics, Revolution or Renovation? Reforming Local Politics in Europe, Vanden Broele, pp.185-213, 2005. ⟨halshs-00156861⟩