Referendum and initiative

Two actions that give voters a means to express the will of the people are referendum and initiative. Voters fulfill the direct democratic ideal by proposing and voting on issues and legislation through referenda and initiatives; there are binding and non-binding referenda and initiatives. A referendum gives voters the opportunity to endorse or strike down legislation passed by their lawmakers. In most US states, a law passed by a legislature does not take effect if voters muster enough signatures to put the law up for popular vote on the ballot, and voters defeat the law. Voters can initiate laws and constitutional amendments by having their propositions put on a ballot if advocates gather enough petition signatures to qualify.

Referendums and initiatives are used in dozens of countries. They are the primary means of limiting government power. Judicial review of referendums and initiatives checks and ensures compliance with a nation’s constitution.

Background

Greece, known as the cradle of democracy, initiated referendum and initiative 2,500 years ago; property owners were the first voters. In 500 BCE, all freemen were given the right to vote—excluding women and enslaved people. The English word electorate has its origins in the Greek word ecclesia, meaning "an assembly of voters." Greek citizens had the right to propose initiatives for legislation. Aristotle wrote a constitution for Athens, and a council of five hundred was assembled to pass laws including those proposed by citizens.

Modern democracy was born in France, followed by a referendum for a new constitution in 1793. Direct democracies flourished throughout the American colonies from 1640 onward with referenda and initiatives. The US Constitution from the referendum and initiative process excluded voters on the national or federal level. This meant direct democracy was left open and available to voters at the state and local levels across the nascent but expanding country.

Democracy in Switzerland was embedded between 1831 and 1890 through referenda and initiatives. Its constitution of 1874 and its amendment of 1991 directly provide for referendum and initiative. It is the only democracy giving citizens the right to propose laws through direct initiative. Some analysts suggest this pressure valve helps keep the peace in Switzerland, comprised of twenty-six cantons and people speaking four different languages and living four cultures.

Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, and other democracies adopted the means of binding national referenda in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. In the past two hundred years, eight hundred referenda have been introduced in these democracies—four hundred in Switzerland.

The four major democracies in the world that have never held national referenda are India, Israel, Japan, and the United States. The US Constitution confers all legislative powers to Congress, so holding national referenda and initiatives would require an amendment to the Constitution.

Nazi Germany held a national referendum in 1934; the people voted to dissolve Germany’s democracy and enshrine Hitler as chancellor with dictatorial powers.

Referendum and Initiative Today

In 1898, voters in South Dakota adopted a system of referendum and initiative, shortly followed by Oregon. Other states patterned their systems of referendum and initiative after the Oregon system. Referenda and initiatives primarily address financial and tax issues, social/political policies, and recall of elected officials.

Since 1912, Ohio voters have been able to initiate constitutional amendments and new laws, overturn laws, and approve or deny amendments passed by the Ohio legislature. By the mid-2020s, over 220 initiatives and referenda on over 150 amendments to the legislature were proposed. California and Oregon have used the initiative and referendum more than other states. California initiatives dramatically changed the political landscape. The wildly popular 1978 Proposition 13 and 1988 #98 initiatives cut state spending on elementary and high school education; another established term limits for state senators and legislators; and in 2010, voters established a new redistricting system.

Among the twenty-first century's most controversial initiatives and referendums was the 2012 passage of Colorado Amendment 64. It was a successful popular initiative amending the state constitution to legalizing marijuana for recreational and medicinal use. In 2015, Ohio voters defeated a measure to legalize marijuana growing for medical use, but other states like Washington, Maine, and California also voted on similar controversial initiatives and referendums in the 2010s and 2020s.

Referendums and initiatives have also successfully modified state laws to protect animal rights, ensure equal treatment for same-sex marriage, modify penalties for drug offenses, increase the minimum wage, and address many other important issues. In the mid-2020s, several states, like California and Missouri, used initiatives and referendums to modify laws to protect reproduction rights after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The Canadian province of British Columbia is the only province where voters can propose new laws or changes to existing ones. In British Columbia, signatures from 10 percent of registered voters are required. Since 1995, British Columbians have sought through direct democracy to require the government to balance the budget, remove certain school tax levies, alter government pensions, prohibit the hunting of bears, establish a Child Services Equality Act, change the electoral system, and address the issue of armed police.

In Switzerland, a mere 2 percent of the voters are required on petitions to initiate a referendum and initiative. On February 9, 2014, a slim majority of Swiss voters approved an initiative against mass immigration. Inserting a new paragraph into the Swiss Constitution, voters demanded the Swiss have independent control over its immigration policy and not be forced by the European Union and other leaders to accept mass immigration. The initiative further stipulates that employers give priority to Swiss nationals in hiring.

Voters in Britain held a referendum on June 23, 2016, which was put forth by the national government and resulted in Britain withdrawing its membership in the European Union. Part of this decision had to do with the mass illegal immigration of refugees from North Africa to Afghanistan, but primarily from war-torn Syria. Popular referenda are required to amend their constitutions under varying circumstances in France, Ireland, Australia, and Italy.

Elected officials tend to oppose referendums and initiatives because they usurp the authority of elected officials already guided by a system of checks and balances. One man called them a means of "mob rule."

Bibliography

"The European Citizens’ Initiative." European Commission, commission.europa.eu/get-involved/engage-eu-policymaking/european-citizens-initiative_en. Accessed 17 Feb. 2025.

Gadient, Irma, and Pauline Milani. “Letter from Switzerland.” The Political Quarterly, vol. 86, no. 4, 2015, pp. 468–71, doi:10.1111/1467-923X.12194. Accessed 17 Feb. 2025.

"Initiative." Elections BC, elections.bc.ca/events-services/initiative. Accessed 17 Feb. 2025.

"Initiative and Referendum." Ballotpedia, The Encyclopedia of American Politics, ballotpedia.org/Initiative_and_referendum. Accessed 17 Feb. 2025.

"Initiative and Referendum in the 21st Century." NCSL Initiative and Referendum Task Force, National Conference of State Legislatures, 2002, documents.ncsl.org/wwwncsl/Elections/IandR-report-2002.pdf. Accessed 17 Feb. 2025.