In many countries, ‘participation’ has become the new mantra in politics. Participatory and direct democracy are seen as a positive complement to their representative counterpart, and sometimes even as its potential successor. In this context, new forms of participation such as interactive policy-making, referenda and participatory budget were introduced. The local level has often been used as the first place to test these new institutional devices. It appeared as an appropriate laboratory to assess participatory democracy. While participatory reforms have been the framework for previous studies, lesser attention is paid to the actual assessment of these reforms. This book tries to tackle this question by focusing on those who govern, the governed and policy-making as the result of their interaction. Combining comparative with country-wise studies, this book collects contributions from European experts on direct and participatory democracy and sheds in-depth light on the practices and the challenges for local democracy. Table of contents - Introduction. Towards DIY-politics at the local level? - Assessing local referendums and innovative participatory instruments - Participative democracy vs. representative democracy? - The referendum as a tool for local government reform in Britain and France - Making direct democracy work: Czech local referendums in regional comparison - Who governs in participatory democracy institutions? The limited impact of citizen participation in municipal participatory budgets - User boards and user control: increment or detriment to local democracy? - Direct democracy at the local level in Germany - Participatory democracy in Belgium. Between the politician’s mistrust and citizen apathy - A ‘global-down-up’ initiative against the ‘centers in the periphery’: the impact and limitations of the new participatory mechanisms in Turkey - Public participation in local representative democracy: exploring a tension and evaluating practices through assessing the perspectives of the local political elite - E-participation in local governments: the case of Portugal - Political decision-making through deliberation - Active citizens and local safety. How the active citizens matrix can help local government to support citizens in their efforts to improve safety - Conclusion. Participatory and direct democracy at the local level. DIY-politics as a cure for all democratic problems?