Referendum

Referendum. In the assemblies of the old Swiss Confederation and of certain cantons the delegates were required to refer certain questions (generally financial) to their governments before deciding them. In this century the name has been transferred to a provision of nearly all the Cantonal Constitutions and the Federal Constitution since 1848, which was first known as the veto, and is probably largely due to Rousseau's teaching. Any constitutional amendment must be submitted to a popular vote before becoming law; so must any Bill which has passed the legislature provided a certain number of citizens sign a demand within a certain time (50,000 citizens within 90 days, for the Federal referendum). M. Nurna Droz, an eminent Swiss Radical, calls the institution a "legislative phylloxera;" and of 23 Federal referenda of a possible 144, 1848-91, 14 had resulted in rejection. Many English publicists advocate it for the United Kingdom.