초록 열기/닫기 버튼
As the public's desire to participate directly in the political process grows, the demand for direct democracy is increasing, ‘popular initiative’ which allows the public to propose the contents of the constitution and the statutory laws is drawing attention. The draft of a Constitutional Amendment, which the President Moon handed in to the National Assembly in March 2018, explicitly included putting of the popular initiative on the statutory laws. The 20th National Assembly's Special Committee on Constitutional Amendment has conducted discussions on the instituting of the popular initiative, which allows the public to directly propose a constitutional amendment as well as legislation. Popular initiative is a channel of active democratic participation in that it reflects the will of the sovereign directly in the norms of the community. However, there is a cross between a positive evaluation that the national initiative can be a firm means of realizing national sovereignty and a negative evaluation that it can depend on the influence of interest groups without adequate consideration. The success of the direct democratic system depends on the historical experience of the community, which in our case lacks the experience of autonomy or participation. Deliberation, compromise and search for alternatives through the deliberation of representative agencies are also important values of democracy. Popular initiative should be designed under the principle of ‘reconciliation’ between direct democracy and representative democracy. It is necessary to ensure the opportunity for the direct participation of the people through the popular initiative on the important matters of the community, and to enable serious deliberation and discussion of representative agencies. By granting the National Assembly the power to deliberate on popular initiatives and to present alternatives, it will be possible to harmonize direct democracy's participation and representative democracy’s deliberate representation.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
Popular Initiative, Direct Democracy, Representative Democracy, Constitutional Revision, Legislative Participation
