Referendums around the World
- Simone Colavecchia
- 27 giu
- Tempo di lettura: 4 min
A comparative overview
In legal terms, a Referendum or Ballot is a political means that ensures popular expression upon a specific public matter, such as a proposal, a law or a political decision to be taken.
There are different types of Referendums, in particular:
● Abrogative Referendum;
● Confirmatory Referendum;
● Consultative Referendum.
Those are the categories that indicate the scope of the Referendum:
● Constitutional
● Legislative
● Conventional
These instruments can be used by institutional political bodies such as Countries, Regions, or Municipalities to get a clear response from the active electorate.
The outcome can be either binding or non-binding, as in the case of a consultative ballot.However, sometimes even non-legally binding referendums can become politically binding, as demonstrated by the 2016 Brexit referendum in the UK, where the electorate's will to leave the EU clashed with Parliament.
The most important historical reference of direct democracy is to assembly democracy in ancient Greek city-states, particularly Athens, where decisions were taken by an Assembly (Ecclesia) of some 1,000 male citizens.
Moreover, also in Rome, until the rise of the empire, the concept of popular representation was embedded in the concept of Plebiscita and was carried on by the plebeians’ tributes, which sat in Senate, the aristocratic consultative body which had tremendous influence over the public life even if the decision were not legally binding.
The Plebiscita were popular consultations made exclusively for the people not involved directly in the political life of the state, and initially the outcome of those ballots was binding only for plebeians, until the enactment of the Lex Hortensia (287 BCE), which ensured that the proposal of the (plebeian) consilium had effect on every Roman citizen. Later, people’s assemblies were used in many Swiss cantons and towns as well as in town meetings in some American colonies and states.
Nowadays Referendums are mostly used to reshape the legal framework of a country in several ways such as: amending the constitution, enacting or abrogating statute law, confirm membership or legislation as it happens in Poland for constitutional amendments to core provisions, and in extreme cases also change the form of the country, as it happened to Italy on June 2nd 1946, when the popular vote decided whether continue to be represented by a constitutional monarchy or breaking with its dark past by enacting a parliamentary republic.
However, the Referendum or other means of direct democratic decision can be used also for non-legal related questions, such as to declare independence and to express military positions, and in the past there have been some cases where the popular vote had direct effect upon military strategy and the outbreak of a war:
In Asia, Bangladesh Independence Referendum, in fact the East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) held general elections in 1970, where the Awami League won a majority. The central government in West Pakistan refused to transfer power. This led to a brutal civil war and eventual Indian military intervention. After the war, the new government of Bangladesh held public celebrations and polls affirming independence. Another example could be East Timor that under UN supervision, East Timor held a referendum on independence from Indonesia (1999).
On the other hand, in the Western world there is the example set by Texas. In fact,before Texas joined the United States, there was a popular vote in 1845 where Texans voted to accept U.S. annexation, fully knowing this would likely provoke war with Mexico. While not framed as a "war referendum," it was a democratic decision with foreseeable war consequences, and indeed, the Mexican American War broke out in 1846.
However not every legal system gives the opportunity to the electorate to express a direct opinion on a specific subject, and that's the case of Germany.
Germany's legal system and constitutional framework prioritize representative democracy over direct democracy. This preference is deeply rooted in the historical abuse of plebiscites during the Nazi era and the subsequent design of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz) after World War II.
Under the Weimar Republic (1919–1933), referendums and plebiscites were permitted, which Hitler exploited to create an illusion of popular legitimacy; notably in the 1934 vote to merge the offices of Chancellor and President. Post-WWII constitution drafters, wary of history repeating itself, feared that direct democracy could again fall prey to demagogues. The system was therefore designed to protect lawmaking from mass manipulation.
Others examples of countries that don’t use the practice of Referendum
US
- Present at State level but absent at Federal level
India
- No provision for referendums at the national level, only used once in Goa in 1967 via special law
Japan
- The Constitution doesn't allow national referendums, except possibly for constitutional amendments, but never held.
Israel
- Never been held although a 2014 Basic Law provides for a national referendum or a two-thirds Knesset (unicameral legislative organ of the country) majority
China
Disclaimer !
The contents of the articles represent solely the ideas and opinions of the authors and in no way reflect the views of Bocconi University.
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