Initiatives and referendums in the United StatesIn the politics of the United States, the process of initiatives and referendums allow citizens of many U.S. states to place legislation on the ballot for a statewide referendum or popular vote, either enacting new legislation or voting down existing legislation. Citizens or an organization might start a popular initiative to gather a predetermined number of signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot.
Federal government of the United StatesThe federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The United States federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The powers of these three branches are defined and vested by the Constitution of the United States, which has been in effect since 1789.
Referendums in the United KingdomReferendums in the United Kingdom are occasionally held at a national, regional or local level. Historically national referendums that cover the whole of the United Kingdom are rare due to the long-standing principle of parliamentary sovereignty. Legally there is no constitutional requirement to hold a national referendum for any purpose or on any issue.
Representative democracyRepresentative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a form of democracy in which elected representatives make political decisions on behalf of the people they represent, in contrast to direct democracy. The related concept of electoral democracy emphasizes free, fair and competitive elections, broad suffrage, and basic political freedoms, rather than the mechanism of representation alone.
United StatesThe United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic consisting of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclave of Alaska in the northwest and the archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.Popular initiativeA popular initiative, or people's initiative (also citizens' initiative, or civic initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition. In direct initiative, the proposition is put directly to a plebiscite or referendum, also called a popular initiated referendum or citizen-initiated referendum.
Nomination rulesNomination rules in elections regulate the conditions under which a candidate or political party is entitled to stand for election. The right to stand for election, right to be a candidate or passive suffrage is one part of free and fair elections. Passive suffrage is distinct from active suffrage, the right to vote. The criteria to stand as a candidate depends on the individual legal system.
Direct democracyA Landsgemeinde, "cantonal assembly", in the canton of Glarus on 7 May 2006, Switzerland. Landsgemeinden are public voting gatherings, and are one of the oldest examples of direct democracy.Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy model which occurs in the majority of established democracies.
ReferendumA referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding, resulting in the adoption of a new policy, or consultive (or advisory), functioning like a large opinion poll.Voting ageA legal voting age is the minimum age that a person is allowed to vote in a democratic process. Most nations use 18 years of age as their voting age, but for other countries their voting age ranges between 16 and 21 (with the sole exception of the United Arab Emirates, where the voting age is 25). A nation's voting age may therefore coincide with the country's age of majority, but in many cases the two are not tied.
VotingMethod to make collective decisions Clockwise from top left: ballot for a referendum in Panama, ballot box for a French election, women voting in Bangladesh, an electronic voting machine in Brazil, a sign at a United States voting location, election inking on a man's finger in Afghanistan Voting is the process of making collective decisions by means of submitting and then adding up individual choices.
SwitzerlandSwitzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located at the intersection of Central, Western, and Southern Europe. It is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Austria and Liechtenstein to the east, and Italy to the south.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.