Outcome, process and power in direct democracy - New econometric results

Based on survey data for Switzerland, new empirical findings on direct demo cracy are presented. In the first part, the authors show that, on average, public employees receive lower financial compensation under more direct dem ocratic institutions. However, top bureaucrats are more constrained in dire ct democracies and have to be compensated by higher wages for that loss of power. In the second part, they demonstrate that reported subjective well-b eing of the population is much higher in jurisdictions with stronger direct democratic rights. This is not only the case because people value politica l outcomes higher but also because they derive utility from the political p rocess itself.