Talk:Referendum

message: I was struck when reading this entry that there is considerable critical content on referendums, which is good. However, there is a lack of balance, because the usefulness of referendums is not discussed. I don't have the competence to write a lot about the rationale for referendums, but tried to get this going by adding a short section. Could some of you poli-sci types out there build on this a bit? --Reallavergne (talk) 15:12, 22 April 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Rationale 

message: Is there actually any difference between a referendum and a plebiscite except the negative connotation that plebiscites are generally held by dictators? -Will231 (4 Mar, 2004)
:: There is not difference in MOST languages. However, in historical terms, plebiscites were held by a dictator and usually had no juridical effects (since they were staged or faked). So correlating the 0 juridical effects to a facultative non-binding referendum, sometimes this is called a plebiscite. However this specific conotation is used ad-hoc, and is not general. In general, they are the same. Warfare utf 22:50, 18 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: As I understand it, Australia is relatively rare in trying to maintain a formal distinction at federal level between referendums on amending the constitution and plebiscites on other matters. However this distinction doesn't seem to apply to the state level - e.g. the votes on both secession and daylight saving in Western Australia are called referendums. Timrollpickering (talk) 22:18, 5 December 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Referendum vs. plebiscite 

message: While it is interesting to know how the constitutional changes are handled in Republic of Ireland, I don't really think it belongs to this article. IMHO this article should be left general with links to such things ... Any opinions? --Romanm 17:45, 23 May 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Republic of Ireland 

message: I question the following paragraph in its fastidious refusal to use the word "quorum" to describe the minimum threshold for a referendum:
:In some countries there is also a requirement that there be a certain minimum turn-out of the electorate in order for the result of a referendum to be considered valid. This is intended to ensure that the result is representative of the will of the electorate and is analogous to the quorum required in a committee or legislature.
It's not analagous to a quorum; it is a quorum.  The current media discussion of the Italian stem-cell referendum discusses it "failing to reach a quorum", not "failing to reach a minimum threshold" or "failing to reach a 'quorum'".  Granted, the quorum article restricts the definition to "deliberative bodies"; however I think the reason is that few English-speaking jurisdictions which provide for referendums establish thresholds, so the question rarely arises; nevertheless, when it does, the word "quorum" is not used freely.  I suggest both referendum and quorum be amended accordingly. Joestynes 08:01, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Quorum ? 

message: Would it not be good to insert a section for the Iraq referendum?  204.126.127.253 22:26, 17 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Iraq 

message: The Criticism is far to close to the beginning of this article. This is an encylopedia, and this article should explain in detail what a referendum is and then show criticisms of them. I am moving the section to the bottom. Travis Cleveland 11:13, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Criticism Position 

message: This article lacks any view of the historical perspective of Referenda before the 1970s. What about the use of the plebiscite in early 20th century Europe especially following the First World war.    See  :Category:Referendums by year. Lumos3 17:40, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lack of Historical Perspective 

message: I´m living in Germany. & not in a Country called EU. So, if there exists a Country with the Name EU, write down, where it is. & if Organisations like EU count like Countries, UN counts like a Country, too. If UN is no County, EU is no Country, too.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.89.165.165 (talk) 19:42, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  EU is no Country 

message: it would be useful.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.217.59.87 (talk) 11:02, 1 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  upcoming referendums section 

message: What is the earliest referendum to take place?, i assume its from America thats why its not in right.
:I can't imagine why it being in America would cause it not to be included, but it wasn't in America anyway. The first referendums were in ancient Athens around 500 BC, and the first referendum in the modern world was in France in 1793 (about whether to adopt their new constitution). 87.80.97.137 (talk) 10:25, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  History of the referendum 

message: In 2004, the UK Government committed to holding a UK-wide referendum on the new EU Constitution, but this was postponed in 2005 due to the rejection of the European Constitution in Belgium and France and 
Please change Belgium to the Netherlands
Belgium actually ratified the constitution.  See bbc source
Netherlands was meant by author , which did reject the treaty See bbc source
--Maxm007 (talk) 09:56, 10 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  United Kingdom section contains error 

message: I am Dutch. The term 'Volksraadpleging' is hardly ever used in this connection. We just say 'Referendum'  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.159.150.163 (talk) 07:00, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Netherlands 

message: "Iceland  held a referendum on 6 March 2010, to vote for whether or not to repay the Icesave dept to United Kingdom and the Neatherlands. The people voted against repaying the debt."
this is not true. the referendum was about the terms of the repayment, not the repayment itself.--Lotsofmagnets (talk) 18:49, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  iceland 

message: Add an entry for Greece referendum. Dates so far unknown. Markets fell when the referendum was announced. RadioEverleigh (talk) 14:05, 1 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Greece 

message: All this article and the attached article Popular referendum are a mess. Mormegil 87.19.63.46 (talk) 22:18, 18 July 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  mess 

message: independence referendum, people can choose 1 of 5 options:
# remained under colonial (ex: falklands island remain under united kingdom)
# free from colonial (ex: south sudan independence from sudan)
# reunited under colonial (ex: timor leste under from stand government became to under from portugal government)
# 2/more unification to 1 nation state (ex: west germany and east germany became to germany)
# autonomous regions status change (ex: statues of puerto rico from territory became to state)
new constitution or rule referendum, people can choice only 1 from 2 options: yes or no.
Akuindo (talk) 04:35, 9 August 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  rule 

message: WP:SPLIT says: "If [...] a section of an article has a length that is out of proportion to the rest of the article, it is recommended that a split be carried out."
It seems that section "Referendums by country" is far out of proportion with the rest of the article. I have been adding some countries to the list, and will be continuing to do so, so this disproportion will only increase. Therefore, I propose that this section be split into it's own article titled Referendums by country. --JohnnyBallot (talk) 16:58, 1 November 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Support – agreed, go ahead. —Ynhockey (Talk) 21:43, 10 November 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Splitting section "Referendums by country" into new article 

message: I thought referendum referred to a vote undertaken under a law or constitutional provision (namely authorizing the referendum process) - which, if approved by the electorate, became a law or a constitutional provision ipso facto (i.e. automatically or self-enacting).
While plebiscite was a vote, authorized by the government, not defined by a law or constitution provision, with a process unique to the question - which, if approved or rejected became guidance (or mandate) and which only took real effect with some other action by the government for implementation.
Making them equivalent in the article blurs this useful distinction. This is also the sense in which referendum is described in Initiatives and referendums in the United States - initiative being new law and referendum being amend and repeal. patsw (talk) 14:39, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: The fact is that either or both terms are in use across many countries to mean a popular vote on a political matter regardless of how they've come about or what other actions are needed before they take effect. Here in the UK some votes have needed follow-up legislation - e.g. Scottish devolution - whereas others automatically took effect - e.g. councils having directly elected mayors. All are referendums and the term "plebiscite" is little used outside historical discussion. Conversely in Australia there's a federal distinction between "referendums" that change the constitution and "plebiscites" that are votes on laws and other matters, although at state level they all seem to get called "referendums". It would be false and confusing to start drawing a distinction in terms based on how they're used in just one country. Timrollpickering (talk) 21:45, 8 March 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Referendum vs Plebiscite (new) 

message: First the "(tm)" caught my eye. I though of only dropping that. This seems UK specific, but not government run (would be .co.uk); not sure about links to actual referendums:
"VoteBox™ can help run an Online Referendum for any group interested in voting on a local or wider area matter, please contact us for details."
On the main page, it seems I could have voted (I'm from another country..) and still there were numbers given for yes and no.. Linsk where to Facebook (not open to all, I'm not registered) and Twitter. Is this spam? comp.arch (talk) 11:02, 10 November 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Should VoteBox™ be under "External links"? 

message: There is no mention in the article of the winning majority required in past referenda. Were they all 50%+1 to win, or were some 60%,66%,70%,etc?
Anyone know?  Crawiki (talk) 17:03, 7 March 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Simple majority or supermajority?  

message: What is referendum 45.215.255.29 (talk) 16:31, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Civic