Gérard Marcou: "The referendum is more an instrument of mobilisation than a tool for democracy"

Speaking at the St Gallen conference (Switzerland) in a workshop on "Referendum at regional and local level", Gérard Marcou, Director of the Research Grouping on Local Administration in Europe (GRALE), Paris 1 University, Panthéon-Sorbonne (France), emphasised that the referendum has its limits in the area of local democracy.  He believes that, today, the referendum cannot be regarded as a major tool for strengthening local democracy.  Very few European States provide for referendums to decide matters at local level, and even fewer use them as a real decision-making tool.

Interview – 4 May 2010

Question: France, which, incidentally, only ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government in 2007, is customarily seen as a centralised country.  How do you see the development of decentralisation in your country?

Gérard Marcou: Firstly, that is a slight misconception.  France does have a tradition of centralisation, that much is true, but it is no longer a centralised country and has not been for a long time.  And decentralisation did not begin with the law of 1982.  The gradual process of decentralisation already started under the 3rd Republic and, today, particularly at municipal level, France, while still a unitary country, is relatively decentralised.  In fact, if we compare systems of local administration, we can see that, where competence for important matters are concerned, French local authorities have more autonomy than their counterparts in most European countries.  This is an ongoing process; the government is currently preparing an important reform, concluding the local and regional reform effort, which should logically replace the inter-municipal districts with new municipalities, if the draft legislation stands.  At the very least, the organs of the inter-municipal districts will be elected by direct suffrage, which will be a major change.

Question: There are two trends at European level today: on the one hand, there are efforts to devolve power to cities and regions, promoted by the Council of Europe and its Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, and on the other hand, there are calls to strengthen the European Union, by giving it more powers.  Are these two trends contradictory?

Gérard Marcou: I do not think that there is a contradiction between the issues which the European Union has to resolve and the promotion of decentralisation on the basis of the European Charter of Local Self-Government.  These two trends do not cover the same ground.  The powers of the European Union essentially cover major public policies and the drive to unify and harmonise legislation in a number of areas, chiefly concerning economic life and now environmental issues too.  But the EU does not have any powers relating to the territorial organisation of States.  So the States can organise their territories as they wish, allocate powers between the different levels and operate a more or a less centralised system where local administration is concerned.

Question: Discussion in your workshop today focused on the role of local and regional referendums.  Do you think that the referendum is a tool for democratic participation or political manipulation?

Gérard Marcou: I would say it is both.  The referendum is more an instrument of mobilisation than a tool for democracy.  In reality, as valuable as it is, today, the referendum cannot be regarded as a major tool for strengthening local democracy.  If we look at all the Council of Europe States, only a minority of them make provision for referendums to decide matters at local level, and even fewer use them as a real decision-making tool.  Most countries either hold what are merely consultative referendums – which are not really referendums but a procedure for putting a question to the public – or provide for referendums on very narrow issues, such as changing territorial boundaries or choosing between institutional models provided for in legislation and the like.  In addition, it cannot be said that the referendum is something that functions in isolation from other factors.  Certain conditions have to be met for it to achieve positive results at local level.  Take the issue of public information for example – it has to be guaranteed that the information on the decisions to be taken is full and accurate.  Likewise, it has to be ensured that the wording of questions is not biased or somehow likely to determine the reply.  Otherwise, the referendum becomes a tool for manipulation.