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referendum
A form of direct democracy
Referendum is a form of direct democracy, which is an important part of the constitutional system in a democratic country
elector
A system in which a decision is made based on the result of a direct vote, in which a clear vote is taken with agreement, opposition or abstention on a relevant issue.
It is a specific procedural choice for the implementation of the right of peoples to self-determination, belonging to
Democratic constitutionalism
The category of. Qualitatively, it's not right
Representative democracy
It is a supplement and amendment to representative democracy.
A popular referendum, also known as a
referendum
or
plebiscite
It is all citizens who vote on major issues. It originates from
Ancient Greek
Athenian
Assembly of citizens
. At that time
Athens
All important matters are decided by a referendum of all citizens, for which referendums are held at least once a month.
- Chinese name
- referendum
- Foreign name
- referendum
- alias
- Plebiscite (referendum), referendum
- origin
- Athens, Ancient Greece
referendum
Because of the authoritative nature of the use of referendums in the above conditions, they have from time to time been used by ethnic separatists to disguise their activities as "public opinion". Separatists usually use referendums to stir up national sentiment, sow discord between ethnic groups and carry out activities to split the country. In the mid-19th century, the southern states of the United States announced their intention to secede from the Union and become independent states
American Civil War
. Under the leadership of President Lincoln, the American people sacrificed their lives to preserve the unity of the United States. The American Civil War showed that secessionist independence was never recognized by the central government. Because if they are dissatisfied and incite the people to make independence by means of "referendum", then the number of countries in the world will probably be tens of millions, and the ensuing conflicts and wars will be multiplied.
Most of the referendum content is related to the future of the country and the national economy and people's livelihood of major issues. It usually includes the following aspects: a general election, including the direct election of the president and a referendum on whether to hold early presidential or parliamentary elections. Singapore has always directly elected its president by popular vote. In May 2010,
Pakistan
it
Musharraf
A referendum was held on whether the president could be re-elected, and Musharraf was re-elected. In the same year, the Kyrgyz interim Government announced that the results of a referendum held on June 27 had confirmed the new constitution
draft
Be passed. The draft establishes
Kyrgyzstan
Will carry out
Parliamentary democracy
.
Referendums are not the primary form of democratic state management, but a useful and effective complement to representative democracy. Generally speaking, there are six main types of referendums: election referendum, legal referendum, policy referendum, territorial referendum, international referendum and independence referendum. Among them, legal referendum is the most important type often used by democratic countries, and many countries have adopted this form of constitutional amendment. Of course, referendums can also be classified according to different criteria, for example, according to the scope of subjects that voters have the right to vote, there are sovereign state referendums, colonial self-determination votes, and party-based intra-party referendums. According to the necessity of referendum, there are compulsory referendum and voluntary referendum. According to the validity of the referendum result, it can be divided into valid referendum and invalid referendum. According to the legal form, there are domestic law referendum and international law referendum.
General election
(2) Constitutional and reform referendum, that is, a referendum to decide whether to adopt a new constitution, whether to approve major economic, political, cultural and other reform measures. In August 1995, Kazakhstan adopted a new constitution in a referendum, redefining the state system.
(3) Referendums on international issues, including referendums on whether to join international organizations, sign international treaties, join international actions, etc. Switzerland held a referendum against joining in 1984
The United Nations
However, after a referendum, they decided to join the United Nations.
(4)
dominion
A referendum is the method of territorial change in modern international law. A referendum is a vote by the inhabitants of a territory to determine the status of that territory under certain conditions recognized by international law. The referendum method can be traced back to the end of the 18th century, and it has also been used in modern international practice.
The number of citizens of the established country is N, of which the proportion who are well educated is, then the people who are not well educated. The assumption here is that a well-educated person can have an opinion on a policy, that is, whether the policy is beneficial to him or her, while an uneducated person does not know the impact of the policy on him or her, which is quite possible, such as a person with little education, without the media, it is difficult to know whether joining the euro zone is good or bad for him or her. At the same time, it is assumed that voters only consider their own interests, that is, if the policy is good for them, they will support it, otherwise they will oppose it, and voters do not consider whether the overall effect of the policy on the country is good or bad. If the probability that the policy is favorable for educated people is X, the support for the policy among educated voters is Y, and for uneducated voters, the vote can be considered random.
Thailand's Prime Minister Surayud Chan-ocha (left) casts his vote in Bangkok
The most famous referendum is the establishment of the European Union, which has organized nearly 100 referendums before and after Europe, from the original"
The Maastricht Treaty
"To"
Treaty of Nice
"To the final"
Lisbon Treaty
", especially in
Western European countries
Referendums have been held repeatedly. Like the ones who don't like referendums the most
Netherlands
At least four referendums were held before the Lisbon Treaty was finally approved. In the same way,
France
and
Ireland
He vetoed the treaty first, and then
Financial crisis
With the help of the treaty.
Referendums in major Western countries. The referendum system in Western countries can be divided into three categories: state-oriented (France, Britain and Russia); Local self-government (USA, Germany, Japan); Mixed type (Swiss, Italian, Australian). France is one of the birthplaces of modern referendum system, which has the characteristics of non-compulsory and non-spontaneous. The referendum system in Russia is established and perfected in practice. There is no national referendum system in the United States, and state referendums are most popular in the West, represented by California, showing a booming trend. The right of German citizens to create a referendum is in the second level in the Basic Law and is strictly restricted. Switzerland is a country with the deepest direct democracy and the most frequent use of referendums in the world, and the federal referendum system is a copy of the cantonal system, which is closely related to the formation of the union system and the unionist system.
When it comes to legal referendums, American states use them the most. But the federal level of the United States is an exception, because the federal Constitution of the United States does not have such a system design, so the issue of constitutional amendment in the United States becomes the biggest problem. In the United States,
Constitutional amendment
It was ratified by three-quarters of the nation's 50 states. Two-thirds of the nation's 50 state legislatures called for a constitutional convention, and three-quarters of the states approved the amendment. That has not happened so far. The president of the United States does not formally participate in the constitutional amendment process and cannot veto amendments. A complicated, long process. The constitution can be amended in two cases. The first is that two-thirds of the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the National Assembly voted for the amendment, and they cannot veto the amendment. For example, a constitutional amendment proposed in 1789 did not become law until 1992, a period of nearly 203 years. The United States has so far proposed a total of 27
Constitutional amendment
. Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, they have experienced "twists and turns" without exception. This situation is also caused by the lack of a referendum system in the federal Constitution of the United States.
This classification is based on the attributes of the object pointed to by the referendum system, that is, the classification according to the nature of the object, including:
A referendum on constitutional issues
A referendum has been held in Romania on a parliamentary motion to impeach the president
2 Referendum on territorial issues
Since 1918, the United States President Wilson proposed
Principle of national self-determination
Since then, many territorial disputes have been settled by this type of referendum. With the establishment of the European Community and the upheaval of the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries in the 20th century, a series of border redelineation issues were triggered, resulting in a large increase in the number of such referendums.
Three moral referendums
There are often considerable disagreements among the ruling parties on major moral issues of national importance (such as banning the sale of alcohol, divorce, abortion, etc.), and these issues are likely to divide the pro and opposition camps, leading to political crises. Therefore, many countries seek solutions to these widely debated and difficult to reach consensus on moral issues through referendums.
Referendums on other issues
In some countries, citizens have the right to insist that certain issues be put to a referendum, such as keeping the road on the left or switching to daylight saving time. Elected officials sometimes use referendums to decide on thorny issues to avoid offending the public.
This classification is based on the existing State institutions and forms at the time of the implementation of the referendum, including:
plebiscite
This type of referendum is a normal system under the constitutional system, and the objects of the referendum include the constitution (amending the constitution and formulating a new constitution), laws and major national policies. With the global wave of democratization, more and more countries around the world are deciding national affairs or public policies through referendums. For example, the Albanian national referendum adopted a new constitution in 1994, the Malawian national referendum abolished one-party rule and established a multi-party system in 1993, the Irish national referendum decided on the abortion Act in 1992, the Brazilian national referendum decided to maintain the presidential system, the Russian national referendum approved the socio-economic reform bill, and the Italian national referendum adopted a new electoral system. The Canadian national voted against constitutional amendment and the South African national voted to abolish apartheid.
Resident voting
This type of referendum involves a level of local autonomy and is a constitutional guarantee
Local public organization
The embodiment of the rights of inhabitants and the direct democracy of local self-governing bodies. The content of the law can be divided into two categories, such as the approval vote of the special law on local self-government, the recall vote of local elected office, and the dissolution vote of the local assembly. The nature of the law includes the right to vote of local heads and lawmakers, and the right to vote of residents under the special law on local self-government, which applies only to a single public organization. The most obvious example is Article 95 of the Japanese Constitution, which provides that a special law applicable only to a local public body shall not be enacted by the Diet without the consent of more than half of the votes of the residents of the local public body. Therefore, residents have the right to vote on the adoption of a special law that applies only to a single local public body, which is also called the autonomy of the local self-governing body.
Three people's votes
Popular vote
World War II
After that, some of the warring countries belonged to unknown territories and
Non-self-governing territories
Trust territory, protectorate territory, etc., in the relevant States and
United Nations Trusteeship Council
Under the supervision of the people vote to choose independence or statehood. Under the decolonization provisions of the United Nations Charter, eight of the 12 Trust Territories held such referendums to achieve independence. Among the more notable examples are British Togoland, which in 1956 voted by its people to remain under mandate until merger with Ghana or independence; In 1959, British Northern Cameroon held a popular referendum under United Nations supervision to determine its future fate; In 1961, the people of French Western Samoa voted for statehood under the supervision of the United Nations. As for Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, most of these votes took place during the upheavals of the 1990s. In addition, although not subject to territorial ownership and independence, questions concerning national sovereignty are often decided by popular vote. For example, many European countries decided whether to join the European Union by popular vote, and Scotland and Wales decided to set up independent parliaments by popular vote.
This classification is based on the effectiveness of the referendums and includes:
A referendum to decide the future of the country
This type of referendum is usually carried out in countries and regions where there are sovereignty disputes or independence issues. Referendums are mainly held to resolve sovereignty disputes or decide on independence, or to adjudicate on basic political systems, such as those held in Northern Ireland, Quebec, and Micronesia, France.
Referendum on constitutional referendum
In order to emphasize that the constitution is formulated or amended in accordance with the general will of the people, some countries stipulate that in addition to the majority of the National Assembly, the constitution or amendment must be approved by a referendum of a certain proportion of the people. To some extent, this kind of referendum also reflects the guarantee of democracy for the constitutional system.
Three policy referendums
Such referendums may be held in respect of a bill passed by Parliament or the various levels of Parliament, provided that a certain number of citizens object to the bill, or that Parliament, in the interest of prudence, demands a referendum on the bill by the people. Many Western countries have this system, especially the western states of the United States, the Swiss cantons often held.
Referendums on consultative referendums
The political function of this type of referendum is only an expression of public opinion. Regardless of the actual number of citizens participating and the intensity of their opinions expressed, it does not constitute any legal effect on the decisions of the Parliament and is only for reference and consultation. In the autumn of 1994, the Finnish Parliament held an advisory referendum before voting on whether to join the European Union. With public opinion overwhelmingly in favor of joining, the Finnish Parliament subsequently voted overwhelmingly to join the European Union. However, since such an advisory referendum does not have the force of law itself, its practical utility is only a "big poll". This type of referendum is often held in Taiwan, China.
Five referendum on the right to create
This type of referendum is for laws that have not been enacted by the Parliament, which are co-signed by a quorum of citizens and submitted to a referendum to decide whether they should be enacted into law. In terms of exercise scope, initiative referendum can be divided into "law initiative" and "constitution initiative", and in terms of exercise method, it can be divided into "principle initiative" and "draft initiative". The former only puts forward principles and norms, and then the parliament makes a complete law after it is passed. The latter must propose a complete law and put it to a vote of the citizens. The proposer must meet a certain number of requirements, such as 5% or 100,000 people to sign. Such initiative referendums are mostly implemented at the local level, and only Switzerland and Italy have implemented them at the national level.
Venezuelan referendum
A referendum initiated by the government
This type of referendum refers to when there are no relevant provisions in the constitution or laws, or although there are legal provisions to be invoked, the executive does not go through legal procedures, but directly appeals to the people's vote on pending or afraid to promote policies or bills, as the basis for governance. Regardless of whether there are constitutional and legal provisions to follow, the government can decide whether to hold a referendum on its own, and can control the subject and content of the issue. The most typical example is the referendum held by the United Kingdom in 1975 on whether to continue to participate in the European Community and the transfer of rights in 1979.
The Constitution provides for a referendum
This means that certain matters specified by the Constitution, such as laws, amendments to the Constitution, or the scope of some government activities, are ultimately decided by a referendum. Among them, the Austrian Constitution (Articles 42 (2) and 44 (2)) and the Spanish Constitution (Article 168 (3)) even provide for the amendment of all constitutional provisions by referendum. The Italian Constitution also stipulates that, in addition to tax and financial laws, amnesty and commutation of sentences, and international treaties, amendments to the Constitution, laws, and changes in sub-provincial administrative divisions are subject to a referendum.
The people's referendum on legislative applications
This means that some countries expressly stipulate in the Constitution that the people can apply for a referendum on laws or policies according to a certain number of signatures to challenge the laws or policies passed by the Congress, the main purpose of which is to eliminate the bias of the Congress and the government. For example, the Swiss Constitution stipulates that laws or policies promulgated by the government, except for "emergency" decrees, the federal budget, and financial loans, within 90 days of the announcement, if 50,000 citizens (or at least eight cantons) have signed, the decision must be submitted to a referendum and obtained a majority vote to take effect.
Four citizens to create a referendum law
This type of referendum refers to the constitutions of a few countries that allow the people to propose laws created according to their own will with the signatures of citizens and then submit them to a referendum. This people-made law referendum allows the people to make their own laws to ensure their own rights when the government is inactive or negligent.
In addition to the above several general classification methods, in the classification of the referendum system, the more famous is the classification made by Taiwan scholar Cao Jinzeng. He comprehensively studied the classification methods of referendum systems at home and abroad, and added the following three criteria:
(1) Whether the referendum has constitutional norms; (2) Who initiated or organized the referendum; (3) The validity of the referendum result.
This classification method is a systematic combination of scholar Sukxi to form 12 types of classification methods of referendums according to four judgment criteria: whether the referendum is compulsory or arbitrary, whether the result is legally binding or only advisory, whether it is regulated in advance or not by the Constitution, and whether the people are active or passive in the referendum.
1. Type 1: Active -- binding/pre-normative -- coercive
This type of referendum is impossible, because the two elements of initiative and compulsion cannot coexist. When the people take the initiative in a referendum, the referendum must be arbitrary.
2. Type 2: Active -- binding/pre-normative -- arbitrary
This type of referendum highlights the close relationship between referendum and civic initiative, most notably in the Swiss and Italian constitutions. According to Article 121 of the Swiss Constitution, a detailed proposal to amend the Constitution, signed by 100,000 voters, must be submitted to the people for a final decision.
3. Type 3: Active - binding/unregulated - arbitrary
Generally speaking, it is not possible in a political system to tolerate a legally binding referendum on the initiative of the people without prior regulation. However, there is also the possibility of using such referendums in certain circumstances, such as a highly unstable political environment or a highly incompetent government. In 1841, for example, a similar referendum was held in Lucenbon, Switzerland: GrobeRath accepted a citizen's petition, prompted the Constitutional Council to form an amendment, and then went to a referendum, in which the people of the state accepted the new constitution by an absolute majority.
4. Type 4: Active - consultative/Prior regulation - mandatory
This type of referendum is not possible for the reasons described in Type 1.
5. Type 5: Proactive -- consultative/pre-regulated -- arbitrary
This type of referendum is formed through the active participation of the people under the condition of prior regulation. Although formally only advisory, such referendums may be binding in substance. Similar to Type 2, this type of referendum is an effective tool for powerful interest groups and exists at the local government level in Illinois and Finland.
6. Type 6: Active - Consultative/non-prior regulation - arbitrary
The Maldives holds a referendum
7. Type 7: Passive -- binding/pre-normative -- coercive
This type of referendum is generally limited to the people's binding vote on the basic norms, and is a typical form of referendum. Today, with the exception of Delaware, constitutional amendments in every state in the United States must be put to a referendum. Any amendments to the constitutions of Western European countries such as Switzerland, Ireland, and Denmark are subject to popular referendum. Article 89 of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic stipulates that amendments to the Constitution must be approved by a vote of both houses of the National Assembly, and then approved by a referendum, or by a joint session of the two houses of the National Assembly by 3/5.
8. Type 8: Passive -- constrained/prior normative -- arbitrary
The model for this type of referendum is Article 11 of the French Constitution. According to this article: The President of the Republic, on the basis of a proposal made by the Government during a regular session of Parliament or by a joint proposal made by the two houses of Parliament and published in the Official Gazette, may adopt any draft law relating to the organization of the public authority, any draft law relating to the social and economic policy of the State, any reform of the public service, or any treaty intended to authorize the ratification of which, while not contrary to the Constitution, affects the functioning of the existing system. Submit to a referendum. Of course, this provision creates room for discretion or even arbitrary in practice, such as French President Charles de Gaulle held a number of referendums in accordance with this provision, so such referendums have a strong confidence vote and the nature of a policy vote. In addition, the Irish and Danish constitutions also provide for such referendums on general laws.
9. Type 9: Passive -- binding/non-prior norm -- arbitrary
In the absence of an explicit constitutional basis, holding a referendum with legal binding force will result in unconstitutional doubt. In fact, however, similar referendums have occurred in the past, and referendums are called "policy votes" because they emphasize the expression of confidence in a particular person or government. Since such referendums are suspected of populism and demagoguery, so
Representative democracy
Supporters of the confidence vote were the most skeptical and critical. A lot of historical experience tells us that confidence votes are negative, that this type of referendum has the possibility of manipulation, and that the government's behavior is actually directed against the real political participation of the people.
10. Type 10: Passive -- consultative/prior normative -- mandatory
Referendums of this type are rare, such as the one held in Saar, Germany in 1935. This type of referendum was often used as a survey of the opinions of the people before constitutional amendment, and has its historical roots in the United States: in some states, the Constitution expressly provides that before the constitution can be fully amended, a referendum must be held to consult the people on whether the Constitution should be fully amended or whether a constitutional convention should be convened by ordinary election. The holding of such an advisory referendum in the context of prior regulation may in practice become binding, especially if the ballot is used regularly. Therefore, in certain circumstances, such referendums have a binding character similar to type 7.
11. Type 11: Passive -- consultative/prior normative -- arbitrary
Referendums of this type are uncommon in constitutional provisions of various countries, and there are at least two reasons why this phenomenon can be explained. First, when voting is passive, advisory, and arbitrary, it is more convenient to regulate it by general law. Second, if this type is regulated by constitutional provisions, there may be a risk of policy voting.
12. Type 12: Passive -- consultative/non-prior normative -- arbitrary
This type of referendum is a true policy vote, which means that the government gives the people the right to express their opinions on major national issues. Prohibition referendums in Norway in 1919, 1926 and Finland in 1931; Belgium's 1949 referendum on whether Leopold III should be restored to the throne; Britain's 1975 referendum on whether it should remain in the European Community, and Sweden's 1980 referendum on nuclear power, are examples. Although such referendums are consultative in nature, the government will respect the results and take corresponding measures, and may even lead to the resignation of the government if the results of the referendum are contrary to government policy. Therefore, although this type of referendum is not binding, it has great influence on actual politics.
The theoretical basis of a full referendum is that everyone is equal and every citizen has the right to participate in policy making. Indeed, the greatest democracy can be achieved through referendums, which provide a clearer understanding of the real needs of the people, rather than through elected representatives. This also prevents the formulation of major national policies from being manipulated by a few people. At the same time, referendums can cultivate citizens' sense of political responsibility.
It can also be seen from the above model that referendum is not a perfect system. First of all, each voter only cares about his own interests, but does not or rarely considers the interests of the country as a whole, so the formulation of certain policies cannot achieve the maximization of national interests. In addition, referendums are suspected of threatening human rights, and the simple majority method makes it impossible to protect the rights and interests of those minorities. For example, if the country decides by referendum whether to give subsidies or policy support to an industry, it is unlikely to pass, because after all, the vast majority of people do not benefit, and therefore will not approve. In this respect, the parliamentary system is superior to referendums, that is, referendums are only applicable to proposals that have an important impact on the country and concern the interests of the majority.
referendum
At the same time, the cost of referendums is obviously much higher than in other political systems, so they cannot be carried out too frequently, and this problem does not exist in parliamentary systems. In addition, referendums cannot be very real-time, and the time taken from preparation to completion of a referendum is measured in weeks or even months, which is not suitable for issues that must be decided quickly, such as some wars. Another problem with referendums is that the government can shirk its responsibility through a full referendum. The government only needs to implement the decision made in the referendum, without considering whether the decision is actually right. In many cases, the truth will be in the hands of a few people, and the government cannot shirk its responsibility simply because the referendum made an incorrect decision.
In general, referendum is indeed a means of decision-making when the country is facing major issues, but there are many inherent defects, it is not easy to use, abuse.
[1]
In terms of referendums, two other interesting facts are that Switzerland is the world's largest number of countries, while China is the world's longest time without referendums.
Brazil holds a referendum to ban the sale of guns
In China,
Sun Yat-sen
He first advocated the theory of direct civil rights and formed a unique new civil rights doctrine including election, initiative, referendum and recall. The first practice of plebiscite in China appeared in the United provincial autonomy movement: the provincial constitution-making movement represented by Hunan and Zhejiang was the central content of the united provincial autonomy. During the Kuomintang period, the right to vote was incorporated into the constitutional system. But China hasn't had a referendum since the 1930s. Nearly 80 years now. Similar to China, the former Soviet Union captured the world's attention in 1991 when it held the first and last referendum on whether to maintain the union.
1, can obtain the greatest democratic legitimacy, a clear understanding of the needs of the people.
2. The process of voting is to educate all citizens on the rule of law and hone people's sense of responsibility for political affairs.
3. Arbitrary legislation can be controlled to avoid distortion of public opinion.
1. The social cost is huge, and the voter turnout is not high, so the will of a few people is often replaced by the will of the whole people;
(2) Make legislators slack off and put some issues that may offend voters to the citizens to vote so as not to offend any voters;
(3) Majority violence, outside the normal democratic process, is likely to undermine the legitimate rights of minorities;
4, supporters and opponents occupy a camp, easy to cause social division, such as:
Canada
Quebec
The referendum on independence has always created tension;
5, lack of consultation, many voters do not understand the proposal, there will be blind voting phenomenon.
1. There must be a civil society.
2. Freedom of information.
3. Issues need to be both rational and answerable.
4, the answer must be two, otherwise there will be no result.
5. The people must have a consensus on the process and outcome of the referendum.
6. Issues that are highly dependent on expertise and technology (such as whether to develop genetic technology or not) should not be decided by referendum.
7, for some difficult to judge the value of the issue (such as gay issues, euthanasia issues, etc.) in the referendum should also be certain restrictions.
