Frey, Bruno and Alois Stutzer. "Happiness Prospers in Democracy". Journal of Happiness Studies, Vol.1, No.1 (2000): 79-102.

Frey, Bruno and Alois Stutzer. "Happiness Prospers in Democracy". Journal of Happiness Studies, Vol.1, No.1 (2000): 79-102.

• The authors draw on Dr. Robert Dahl in delineating three different stages of historical democracy: Athenian democracy based on citizen's assemble, the Representative democracy brought on by the French Revolution, and direct democracy through referenda (80).
• The system of representative democracy has a number of potential issues, mainly rooted in the potential of representatives to exploit their position for rents, corruption, or the pursuit of self-interest during the period after they are elected. Direct democracy provides a potential solution to this issue (81).
• Direct democracy, as measured by the number of referenda, has a number of economic effects. Communities with referenda spend less and tax less on average, spend more on education, and run much lower levels of debt (81-82).
• The methodology of the study, based on data from 6,000 citizens of Switzerland, is detailed from page 82 to page 86.
• The authors find that high rates of direct democracy through referenda, high rates of employment, and level of income are all positively associated with life satisfaction and happiness. Additionally, participation in the process of referenda was found in increase happiness even in those supporting the losing side of the issue (92).