Let the People Rule: How Direct Democracy Can Meet the Populist Challenge.

• Author: Randolph, Gregory

* Let the People Rule: How Direct Democracy Can Meet the Populist Challenge

By John G. Matsusaka

Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2020.

Pp. xii, 298. $29.95 hardcover.

The resurgence of populism in recent years has generated a great deal of attention from academics and the media. Much of the discussion focuses on the potential explanations for the growing dissatisfaction with the political establishment and the impact of populism on democracies. Let the People Rule: How Direct Democracy Can Meet the Populist Challenge takes a somewhat different approach, instead acknowledging the populist view that government has increasingly drifted out of the hands of the people. John Matsusaka uses his extensive research experience regarding direct democracy to recommend a national referendum process in the United States to allow voters to participate directly in making important government decisions in order to counter democratic drift.

Matsusaka provides context to the populist argument by reviewing changes in government over the past century that have resulted in democratic drift. He then offers an extensive review of the use of direct democracy in practice before ultimately providing a framework for considering direct democracy in the United States at the national level. Throughout the book, Matsusaka takes an approach to the analysis that allows readers to make their own determination regarding the merits of direct democracy. He avoids assessing policy outcomes based on ideology and instead focuses on the potential to align policy outcomes with the views of the majority. In addition, Matsusaka compares policy outcomes associated with direct democracy to observed results in representative democracies rather than focusing exclusively on specific direct-democracy outcomes that may be viewed as problematic. This comparison provides an opportunity to assess both the relative value of considering direct democracy as a complement to representative democracy and the potential dangers associated specifically with direct democracy.

Matsusaka begins by reviewing history and data to explain the disconnect between voters and the federal government through the growth of the administrative state and the increasing influence of judicial decision making. He explains the administrative state's increased role as an attempt to deal with the complexities of government by delegating tasks to experts. Judges' influence has grown for similar reasons but also to address modern issues...