Parliamentary sovereignty is traditionally considered as the most fundamental principle of the United Kingdom’s unwritten Constitution. However, the rule of representative democracy is experiencing a dramatic crisis in the UK, due to the increasing competition not only with direct democracy – as the growing cases of appeals to the people through referendums illustrate – but also with participatory democracy. Indeed, in this country, in particular since the end of the 1990s, several mechanisms aiming at involving the people in decision-making have been introduced. This paper offers a critical survey of the participatory tools in the fields of administration, law-making as well as constitutional reform in the UK, with the aim of demonstrating that increasing participation does not automatically result in increased (participatory) democracy. As a consequence, as it is argued, the analysis of the UK case supports the argument according to which participatory democracy shall be intended more as complementary rather than alternative to representative democracy.
Il rulemaking nel Regno Unito tra sovranità parlamentare e partecipazione
Maria Dicosola
2020-01-01
Abstract
Parliamentary sovereignty is traditionally considered as the most fundamental principle of the United Kingdom’s unwritten Constitution. However, the rule of representative democracy is experiencing a dramatic crisis in the UK, due to the increasing competition not only with direct democracy – as the growing cases of appeals to the people through referendums illustrate – but also with participatory democracy. Indeed, in this country, in particular since the end of the 1990s, several mechanisms aiming at involving the people in decision-making have been introduced. This paper offers a critical survey of the participatory tools in the fields of administration, law-making as well as constitutional reform in the UK, with the aim of demonstrating that increasing participation does not automatically result in increased (participatory) democracy. As a consequence, as it is argued, the analysis of the UK case supports the argument according to which participatory democracy shall be intended more as complementary rather than alternative to representative democracy.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
