Direct democracy as an aid to populism?

A few weeks ago Hungarian writer Péter Nádas warned in an essay that Hungary's democracy was under serious threat. Author Iván Sándor analyses the background for this claim: "The governing parties are observing the rules of the constitution and of democracy, but the main opposition party [the right-wing conservative Fidesz party] is not. It's doing politics through ritual performance and barely bothering to distance itself from the right-wing radicals. Calls for the introduction of direct democracy are becoming increasingly frequent, not for the purpose of lawfully monitoring the government or as an opposition initiative based on the right of assembly, but for the legitimisation of populist demands through the masses."

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