What is Referendum and Plebiscite

Referendum:

In political science, the term Referendum means “must be referred to.” In the process of referendum, a law is used to be referred to the public for their approval. If people approve that law then the parliament of that country approves that law. On the other hand, if people disapprove of a law in the referendum, then the parliament of that country do not adopt that law. In referendums, usually, the laws are already adopted but not passed by the parliament. It is the people who are the final decider regarding the passage of the laws. The constitutions of Switzerland and France must be amended by the consent of the people. Hence, if there is any law to be amended in the parliament, then that amendment will be approved by the people first. After that, that amendment will come into force. There are many examples of referendums in the world. One of the popular referendums of the modern time is that of the British decision to exit from Europe. That referendum is popularly known as “Brexit”. In the year 2016, the people of Britain decided that they no longer wanted to be part of Europe. Hence, they chose to exit from Europe. There are also many examples of referendums in Pakistan and India as well. In Pakistan, there were referendums in the year 1985 and 2002. In India, Goa status referendum was held in the year 1967.

Plebiscite:

A plebiscite is a special type of referendum. In the plebiscite, the decisions are taken in terms of the political destiny of some ethnic group. Plebiscites are rare in history. The people of a particular region decide their political destiny via plebiscite. For example, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 47, which was passed on 21 April 1948, states that there will be a plebiscite in Indian-occupied Kashmir. It was decided that the people of Kashmir would decide their political future through a plebiscite. Hence, plebiscites are about the issues which are more significant and are related to the political future of some certain group.

Initiative:

The initiative is less common in third-world countries. It is a type of legislation in which citizens take part in the process of law-making. There are two types of initiatives. One is direct initiative and the other is indirect initiative. In the direct initiative, the people make laws themselves and then put them in front of people for their approval. On the other hand, in the indirect initiative, people simply put forward their demands and then it is up to the legislatures to make the laws. Initiatives are practised in some advanced countries of the world including the United States of America (USA) and Switzerland. In Switzerland, a minimum of 100,000 people are required to take the initiative. The Minaret Ban Initiative in the year 2009 is one of the prominent examples of initiative in Switzerland.

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