Political Parties and Forms of Citizens’ Involvement in Decision-Making: A Special Section

Abstract

This is the introductory article to a special section that discusses the relationship between political parties and the different forms of citizens’ involvement in decision-making, that is, participatory forms, referendums, and deliberative practices. The three articles in this special issue seek to answer two specific questions, respectively, (1) regarding how ideology relates to some of these forms of involvement and (2) why politicians do not act on the recommendations resulting from such forms. They focus on Spain, Switzerland, and Iceland and bring both theoretical and empirical contributions to the existing knowledge. Their findings are that ideology matters for the use of participatory practices but does not influence the non-implementation of outcomes from deliberative practices. The policy model rarely explains parties’ positioning in referendums, but there is flexibility and moderation during campaigns, and parties are more oriented towards participatory institutions at the local level than towards deliberative practices at the national level.