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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Aug 31, 2024 • Article History Table of Contents
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referendum and initiative, electoral devices by which voters may express their wishes with regard to government policy or proposed legislation. They exist in a variety of forms.
The referendum may be obligatory or optional. Under the obligatory type, a statute or constitution requires that certain classes of legislative action be referred to a popular vote for approval or rejection. For example, constitutional amendments proposed by legislatures in most of the states of the United States are subject to obligatory referendum. Under the optional (or facultative) referendum, a popular vote on a law passed by the legislature is required whenever petitioned by a specified number of voters. By this means actions of a legislature may be overruled. Obligatory and optional referenda should be distinguished from the voluntary referenda that legislatures submit to the voters to decide an issue or test public opinion.
More From Britannica election: Referendum and initiativeThrough the initiative a specified number of voters may petition to invoke a popular vote on a proposed law or an amendment to a constitution. An initiative may be direct (a proposal supported by the required number of voters is submitted directly to a popular vote for decision) or indirect (the proposal is submitted to the legislature). If an indirect initiative is rejected, the proposition is submitted to a popular vote, sometimes accompanied on the ballot by the legislature’s alternative proposal or a statement of the reasons for the rejection. The referendum for constitutional ratification was first used in the state of Massachusetts in 1778. Other forms of referendum and initiative were first used in Swiss cantonal government: the facultative referendum was used in the canton of Sankt Gallen in 1831, the initiative in Vaud in 1845, and the obligatory referendum in its modern form in rural Basel in 1863 (though it had appeared in earlier forms in 1852 and 1854). Both institutions have since been used freely in federal and cantonal matters.
The Swiss experience with the devices of direct legislation was influential in the adoption of the initiative and the optional referendum in U.S. states and municipalities. The obligatory referendum on amendments to state constitutions proposed by state legislatures was first adopted by Connecticut in 1818 and has become the prevailing method for the amendment of all state constitutions. Some states require a referendum on bond issues; and among local governments, the obligatory referendum is widespread for bond issues, tax questions, and related matters. In the United States, these devices were adopted principally to curb the rule of political party machines and to correct the abuses and inadequacies of inflexible legislatures by granting the people a means to overrule legislative action and to initiate popular votes on legislation.
Although the referendum and the initiative find most widespread use in the United States and the Swiss cantons, they are also provided for in the constitutions of several European and Commonwealth countries. The post-World War II constitutions of France and Italy made popular referenda obligatory for constitutional amendments. In Ireland and Australia, referenda are compulsory for all constitutional change. The constitutions of several states of Africa and Asia incorporate provisions intended to promote closer citizen participation in government, but generally what is called for is not true referendum or initiative but rather some form of plebiscitary device to support regimes or policies.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Brian Duignan.
