POLS 1150 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Direct Democracy, Charlottetown Accord, Clement Attlee
5 Dec 2016
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The plural of referendum can be referenda or referendums. For the purposes of this course, however, we will talk about: binding referenda, plebiscites, or ballot initiatives (will be used interchangeably) Formal request to have the opinion of the public on an issue; not legally required to implement the will of the people. Governments can promise the public they will follow through, but they are not legally required to actually do so: recall votes. Not many jurisdictions outside the us (at the state level) have recall votes. The process of un-electing a politician between elections. Dictatorships hold sham referenda for the same reasons they hold sham elections: opportunity to indoctrinate the people, intimidate domestic/foreign opponents, legitimate their policies, to look like a democracy. Napoleon bonaparte (france 1800-1804), adolf hitler (germany 1933-1934), enver. There are parts of the world, however, that have embraced this idea of semi-direct democracy.
