Explaining Elites’ Support for Direct and Deliberative Democracy in Europe

Citizens have become increasingly critical towards representative democracy and its institutions. In this context, democratic innovations (i.e. direct and deliberative procedures) are presented as a potential solution to the gap between elites and citizens. Much research has been devoted to citizens’ attitudes towards such reforms, their perception of democracy and their willingness to participate (Bengtsson and Christensen 2016; Gherghina and Geissel 2017, 2018; Hibbing and Theiss-Morse 2002; Smith 2009; Webb 2013). However, we know relatively little how elected representatives perceive these innovations and what drives their support for different forms of democratic innovations. This issue is crucial since politicians are in many cases the main drivers of reforms and innovations. This paper seeks to fill this gap and analyses elites’ support for two forms of democratic innovations: referendums and citizens’ assemblies. It uses individual level data from the PartiRep Comparative MP Survey in 14 European countries to uncover individual-level determinants of legislators’ support for each of these forms. Among these determinants, the analysis points out the effect of gender, (dis)satisfaction with parliamentary work and electoral democracy, the importance MPs attribute to represent specific groups, their left-right self-placement, and their representational style. The findings reveal distinct explanatory factors of support for the two forms. This brings crucial implications in terms of public policy-making, since the type of innovations implemented seems to depend on the type and profile of elected representatives.