Champions League finals for modern direct democracy

Should the government financially support cows with horns? What should an Olympic delegation be called? What about spending taxpayer money to host ski races? These are just some of the questions 30 million citizens across four countries will have to answer this weekend. It amounts to the most interesting referendum weekend of 2018. That’s following a year of headline-making democratic exercises, from local elections in Tunisia and Indonesia to ballots in Mexico and Brazil as well as key votes in Russia, Italy and the United States.  Historic referendums also took place in Ireland, New Caledonia and Colombia. On this last weekend in November, eligible voters across four jurisdictions will be involved in examples of genuine citizen-lawmaking. British Columbia, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Taiwan will see probably the most comprehensive simultaneous exercise of modern direct democracy in history – a showcase for observers of the initiative and referendum process across the globe.