Referendum

From top to bottom: ballots for the 2016 Ivorian constitutional referendum; flyer for a 1971 Seattle referendum; the 1946 Italian institutional referendum deciding on republic or monarchy.

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Direct democracy
Referendum types Optional referendum Legislative referral Popular initiative Recall referendum Popular referendum Mandatory referendum
Referendums by country Australia Canada Czechia EU France Germany Italy Iran Israel Kenya Lithuania Netherlands New Zealand Poland Philippines Sweden Slovakia Switzerland Turkey Taiwan UK Ukraine USA
Referendums by issue Civil rights Finance Mining War Independence EU
Referendums by method E-referendum
History of direct democracy Athenian democracy in USA
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Elections
Basic types By-election Corporate Direct / Indirect Fixed-term General Local Mid-term Plurality Primary Partisan Nonpartisan Proportional Recall Snap Sortition Two-round system
Terminology Anonymous elector Apportionment Audits Competition Boundary delimitation Crossover voting Electoral college Election law Election silence Gerrymandering Initiative Psephology Secret ballot Suffrage Right to stand for election
Subseries Administration Political party Voting Electoral systems
Lists Elections by country Close elections Most recent Next general elections National and local elections in 2024
Related Election security Electoral fraud Referendum (by country) Electoral reform Election science Paper candidate
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Primary topics Outline of political science Index of politics articles Politics by country Politics by subdivision Political economy Political history Political history of the world Political philosophy
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Subseries Electoral systems Elections voting Unitarism Federalism Government (forms / Governance) Ideology Culture Political campaigning Political parties
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A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue.^[1] A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advisory (functioning like a large-scale opinion poll).