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Podcast: New Books in Human Rights
Episode: Daniel Lewis, “Direct Democracy and Minority Rights: A Critical Assessment of the Tyranny of the Majority in the American States” (Routledge, 2013)
Description: Daniel Lewis is the author of Direct Democracy and Minority Rights: A Critical Assessment of the Tyranny of the Majority in the American States (Routledge, 2013). Lewis is an assistant professor of Political Science at Siena College.The book is primarily about the intersection of various forms direct democracy (ballot initiatives, referendum, etc.) and minority rights. Much of the existing literature has been “agnostic” on the persistent concern among political scientists about the tyranny of the majority. Lewis makes a different argument that there is both a direct and an indirect effect of direct democracy. Using Event History Anal...