referendum - it is one of the symbols of a modern democratic society, where power is formally vested in the people.It is an act of direct will of the people on important issues in various fields.In fact, the government directly addresses the citizens.
referendum - a formal procedure, the procedure for which is governed by constitutional and legislative acts, and the results are valid.However, despite this, the results of referendums are often ignored by public authorities.
The following types of referendums (depending on the base for holding).
1. On the basis of the scale, they are divided into the national (that is held throughout the country), regional (in the territory of one or more subjects) and local (conducted at the level of the local municipality).
2. On the contents are divided into the constitutional (ie, on the adoption of a new Constitution or of amendments to the old), legislative (adoption of the draft new laws) and advice (on the directions of a higher, regional or local authority).
3. According to the degree of obligation: Mandatory (whose conduct is regulated by the Constitution), or optional (initiated by the governing bodies or the people).
4. In order of importance: the decisive (when the results of the popular vote depends on the fate of a bill), and advice (in essence representing the large-scale surveys of the population and have no legal force).
5. At the time of: doparlamentskie (tbc people's opinion on a particular issue before the adoption of the law), posleparlamentskie (after the adoption of the law) and the extra-parliamentary (when the fate of a project is solved directly in the popular vote).
referendum - this event, practitioners with a rather long time.Even in ancient Rome arose such a thing as a plebiscite (that is, the plebeians vote on various issues).First, the Senate, composed of patrician ignored the results of the plebiscite, however, with the adoption of the relevant laws (in 5-4 centuries BC), this procedure has received an official status and became synonymous with the word "law".
In recent history, a national referendum - is also not uncommon.April 25, 1993, the first referendum of the Russian Federation, where they discussed issues related to the election of the President and the Council of People's Deputies, as well as issues of social policy pursued then.A little later (in the same year) in a referendum adopted the Constitution of the new state.In the history of the USSR polls as such it was not all issues can be resolved at the highest party level in the narrow circle of trusted individuals.The first and last Soviet referendum - the event, held on 17 March 1991 ("On the issue of preservation of the renewed alliance of friendly republics"), where "for" more than half of the population voted, but, despite this, a huge country disappeared from the maps.
