The idea of direct democracy crops up again and again in the public debate, usually when Europe is on the agenda. It is worth taking a good, long look at it, in the hope of clarifying matters.
Political science distinguishes between representative democracy, participative democracy and direct democracy. The last of these is believed to have been practised in the Agora of Athens in the fifth century BC, bringing together all those who were fortunate enough to be citizens. In the process of...