公民投票時間

Referendum Time

在從事形塑公民投票時間的制度工程時，立法者應該做何考量？針對這項問題，本文依序討論了分別位於公民投票程序之上游、中游與下游的三項時際管制議題──議程設定、審議期間與投票日，進而對我國與比較直接民主法的相關法制經驗，提出本文的觀察與反省。本文論證指出：一、個別公投提案者的議程權力越大，民主社群就越難合理調控其整體的公民投票議程，而提案者的議程權力大小，相當程度上可以經由時際規範加以調控。二、公民投票的時程越是僵固或者短促，其產生決策錯誤的風險就越高；公投法制上尤應確保一項公投創制提案從公告成立後到舉行投票前，尚有充裕的時間，讓民主社群得以從容地進行思辨與回應。三、公民投票時間既是「混合民主時間」的一環，立法者應從混合民主治理的整體觀點，通盤規劃公民投票與代議選舉投票的時序與週期；在公投與大選定期分別舉行的制度模式下，政黨與代議菁英，仍有責任協助、促成公投選民作出適正的公投決策。

What should the law of direct democracy do to ensure that referendum time (i.e., the time it takes to run the course of the initiative/referendum process) is running at a well-paced speed and is sufficient enough for citizens to make informed and considered decisions at the end of the day? This article seeks to answer this question systematically by looking into three inter-connected issues concerning the temporal regulation of the direct democratic process: the checks and balances of the proposers' agenda-setting power, the length of deliberation period, and the schedule of Election Day. In addition to elaborating on the myriad of normative and policy considerations regarding the institutional engineering of referendum time, this article draws practical lessons from the comparative experiences of Swiss, California, and Taiwan. This article argues that the citizen proposers' agenda-setting power should not be left unchecked, that sufficient time should be allocated to the pre-election public deliberation, and that referendum votes should be scheduled in such a manner as to harmonize the rhythm of hybrid democracy. This article also calls on political parties and elected officials to take more responsibility in helping citizens make sound decisions at the ballot box.