The Political Morality of Voting in Direct Democracy
25 Pages Posted: 18 Nov 2012 Last revised: 5 Jun 2013
Date Written: November 17, 2012
Abstract
The voting levers in candidate elections and in direct democracy elections are identical. The political obligations that bind the citizens that pull them are not. This Essay argues that voters in direct democracy elections, unlike their counterparts in candidate elections, serve as representatives of the people and are, accordingly, bound by the ethics of political representation. Upending the traditional dichotomy between representative and direct democracy, this Essay explains why citizens voting in direct democracy are representative legislators who must vote in the public interest and must not vote in their private interests.
Keywords: direct democracy, public interest, candidate elections, voting ethics, political morality, representation
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