The indirect popular initiative: study of an unrecognized procedure: comparative research with a view to procedural reform in Thailand
Author: Thongmak Pattamabhun
Under the direction of: Marthe Fatin-Rouge Stéfanini
Aix-Marseille University
Texte français
Keywords: Law, Thailand, Popular initiative, Indirect popular initiative, Citizens’ initiative, Bill, Amendment, Right of initiative, Participatory democracy, Direct democracy.
Abstract
Public participation in the standard setting process is developing around the world, citizens are becoming more active and need to express what they want by directly proposing laws. The popular initiative or the citizens’ initiative is a political instrument making it possible to materialize such a demand, which is increasingly requested by citizens. However, this modality of participation seems in contradiction with the traditional representative democracy widely disseminated in democratic states. The so-called "indirect" popular initiative (IPI), particularly unknown compared to the "direct" popular initiative, seems to constitute a compromise allowing citizens to speak while preserving the prerogatives of parliaments. Appeared in 1920 in Europe, it has now spread to several continents. This study first presents the nature of the popular initiative to better distinguish it from other forms of citizens’ participation and to determine its characteristics, while the second part examines more precisely certain modalities of the procedure. Thailand is one of the countries where IPI is allowed, both locally and nationally, whether to amend the constitution or pass new legislation. So far, no initiative has really come to fruition, which makes it possible to see, in Thailand as elsewhere, the weaknesses of this instrument depending on the modalities adopted. In addition to a better understanding of the IPI, this study finally proposes a reform of the system of the IPI in Thailand.
