Democracy Tools: Difference between revisions

Citizen-initiated referenda: This is a legally provisioned procedure which allows citizens to initiate referenda on a wide range of social, economic and political issues, and can deal with legislative proposals or existing laws. It requires them to collect enough signatures from voters to signify a basic level of support for or against a particular proposal. One version, the abrogative referendum, allows repeal of an existing law or parts thereof. The other, the rejective referendum, allows citizens to demand a popular vote on a new piece of legislation that is not yet in force. The basic common feature of these instruments is that citizens are entitled to act on political or legislative issues by presenting proposals, and can themselves initiate the procedure for a vote of the electorate.