19.10.2018—20.10.2018

Past, Present, and Future of Direct Democracy

Conference, Roma

19.10 H15:00 Entrance via Ludovisi 48
20.10 H09:30 Entrance via Liguria 20

Introduction

Dates
19.10.2018
20.10.2018
Location
Roma
Category
Conference
Information

19.10 H15:00 Entrance via Ludovisi 48
20.10 H09:30 Entrance via Liguria 20

Past, Present, and Future of Direct Democracy. History, models, and challenges of direct democracy in the digital era
International conference in collaboration with the Embassy of Switzerland in Italy.

 

The digital revolution fundamentally changes the ways governments, political parties, and voters interact with one another. Changing strategies of campaigning and political mobilisation offer citizens new opportunities to engage in political debate and participate in popular votes and elections. Modern information technologies provide novel means of shaping the political discourse, giving previously voiceless masses a way to express opinions and political interest groups immediate access to their target audience. Likewise, electronic tools of government emerge promising a more direct, transparent and efficient interaction between citizens and governmental bodies. These developments have a major impact on the processes of democratic decision-making – on how consensus can be reached and how conflicts are being negotiated.

Technology seems to endorse the direct democratic model, whereas the digitalisation calls into question the participatory processes of representative democracy, prompting a reflection about the history, ideas and institutions linked to direct and representative democracy: do new technologies represent a turning point for the future of democracy?

PROGRAMME
19 October, h 15.00

WELCOME ADDRESS
Joëlle Comé, Director Istituto Svizzero 
Giancarlo Kessler, Ambassador of Switzerland in Italy, Malta and San Marino
Lorenzo Spadacini, Capo del Dipartimento delle Riforme Istituzionali, Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri.

HISTORY AND IDEAS OF DIRECT DEMOCRACY

Session 1: Competing Models of Democracy
Moderator: Roberta Carlini
15.30 – Giovanni Giorgini (Università di Bologna), I problemi della democrazia diretta secondo Platone e Aristotele
15.50 – Fabrizio Sciacca (Università di Catania), Democrazia diretta e democra­zia rappresentativa: una distinzione formale o sostanziale?
16.10 – Paolo Bellini (Università degli Studi dell’Insubria), La democrazia rappresentativa e i suoi nemici
16.30 – Antimo Cesaro (Università degli Studi della Campania), Capacità ermeneutica e processi decisionali della democrazia diretta
16.50 – Discussion
17.10 – Coffee break

Session 2: Direct Democracy in Past and Present
Moderator: Roberta Carlini
17.40 – Paul Cartledge (University of Cambridge), Digital democracy – ancient Greek versus modern Western
18.00 – Georg Kreis (University of Basel), The Invention and Degeneration of Direct Democracy. The Swiss Case
18.20 – Francis Cheneval (University of Zurich), Assessing the Legitimacy of Direct Democracy in the European Union in the Aftermath of Brexit
18.40 – Alina Scudieri (Università di Bologna), Teorizzazioni contemporanee della democrazia diretta negli Stati Uniti: il pensiero di Cass Sunstein
19.00 – Discussion: conclusions with Bruno Kaufmann (Presidente, Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy) and Ingrid Salvatore (Università degli Studi di Salerno)
21.00 – Movie screening: Die göttliche Ordnung, by Petra Volpe (2017, 96 min.)

  1. 20 October, h 9.30

POLITICAL MOBILIZATION, CAMPAIGNING AND NOVEL INSTRUMENTS OF GOVERNMENT

09.30 – Welcome coffee

Session 3: Political Mobilisation and New Media
Moderator: Philipp Zahn
10.00 – Damiano Palano (Università Cattolica, Milano), Il pubblico e lo sciame. Verso una “bubble democracy”?
10.15 – Giuliana Parotto (Università degli Studi di Trieste), Corpo mediale, propaganda e mobilitazione politica
10.30 – Nicolas Zahn (Operation Libero, Zürich), Updating Direct Democracy
10.45 – Panel discussion
11.15 – Coffee break

Session 4: E-Government and Citizen Participation
Moderator: Philipp Zahn
11.45 – Flavia Marzano (Assessora Roma semplice, Roma capitale), Strumenti di Governo e Parteci­pazione nell’Era Digitale
12.00 – Angelo Sturni (Consigliere di Roma Capitale), Le riforme in materia di democrazia diretta e partecipata nel nuovo Statuto di Roma Capitale
12.15 – Alexander Barclay (Digital Policy and Innovation, Canton of Geneva), Citizen participation in a digital era: insights from the canton of Geneva
12.30 – Ardita Driza Maurer (Centre for Democracy Studies Aarau, University of Zurich), European Legal Standards for E-Voting
12.45 – Panel discussion: conclusions with Bruno Kaufmann (Presidente, Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy) and Ingrid Salvatore (Università degli Studi di Salerno)

20 October, h 15.00

INTRODUCTION
Dominique de Buman, President of the Swiss National Council
Riccardo Fraccaro, Ministro dei rapporti con il Parlamento e per la democrazia diretta.

PERSPECTIVES AND CHALLENGES FOR DIRECT DEMOCRACY IN A DIGITAL WORLD

Session 5: Toward Digital Democracy?
Moderator: Dario Nepoti
15.30 – Uwe Serdült (Centre for Democracy Studies Aarau, University of Zurich), Reconnecting Citizens to Politics
15.50 – Fiammetta Ricci (Università degli Studi di Teramo), Luoghi e non luoghi di partecipazione politica nell’agorà digitale: simulacri e virtualità delle istituzioni
16.10 – Maximilian Stern (Foraus – Swiss Forum on Foreign Policy, Zurich-Geneva), Fail Forward: Government in the Digital Democracy
16.30 – Discussion
16.45 – Coffee break

Session 6: Challenges and Perspectives of Direct Democracy
Moderator: Dario Nepoti
17.15 – Natascia Mattucci (Università di Macerata), Rivoluzione digitale e immediatezza in politica
17.35 – Andreas Gross (Ex-Consiglio Nazionale svizzero), Direct Democracy as a way to democratize Democracy: How to realize the democratic potentials of Direct Democracy today
17.55 – Dominique de Buman (President of the Swiss National Council)
18.15 – Discussion
18.30 – Final debate with Bruno Kaufmann (President, Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy) and Ingrid Salvatore (Università degli Studi di Salerno)

Simultaneous translation available Italian/English – English/Italian.