Real democracy tends to cut public spending.

Switzerland is very democratic. They have far more referendums (national and local) than other countries.

This study looks at the relationship between the level of public spending in different Swiss cantons, and how that relates to the frequency of referendums on public spending proposals. Seems that the more referendums there are, the lower the level of public spening.

My interpretation is that when people can choose more public spending proposals and at the same time are made aware of what it will cost them, they tend to reject those proposals. Put another way, if politicians are given the freedom to promise the Moon, while being evasive about where the money will come from, they’ll do just that. And the average voter falls for the trick.

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