The referendum is a method of referring a question or set of questions to the electorate directly rather than allowing them to be settled by the people’s representatives in the legislature (see direct democracy and representative democracy). It...

Referendums and Plebiscites There is no modern political institution that is more democratic than the referendum. Popular elections of officeholders are commonly assumed to be the hallmark of a democracy, but this is a misconception. Although electing...

A referendum (plural referendums or referenda), ballot question, or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita, originally a decree of the Concilium Plebis) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal....