Mongolia’s recent decision to propose a constitutional amendment raises a broader issue: how should major political decisions be taken in democracies? Globally, political leaders are often tempted to use public referendums to decide or ratify moves of fundamental constitutional significance. Yet Britain’s recent Brexit referendum has raised questions about the destabilising effects of a move to a more “plebiscitary” democracy. Other countries have experimented with more direct forms of democracy too, with mixed results, from ballot initiatives in Switzerland and California, to Mongolia’s own text-message polls in 2015, seeking views over Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi copper mine. So given global worries about a growing “democratic recession”, are more direct forms of democracy part of the problem, or part of the solution?