Abstract

Democracy has historically developed in two great steps. The first major innovation was Greek democracy with its citizens assemblies, the second the French revolution extending democracy to the national level via representation. Two hundred years after his last event it is time for a next major step: the direct participation of citizens in a modern democratic society via referenda and initiatives. The author proposes a new, flexible form of federalism which overcomes these shortcomings: Functional Overlapping Competing Jurisdictions (Focj). Each one of these Focj covers an area allowing to exploit economies of scale and minimizing spillovers. Each jurisdiction is governed by direct democratic procedures (citizens' assemblies or, more likely, referenda and initiatives). Focj enable to extend the scope of direct democracy while meeting the requirements of efficient government activity.