In almost every election, politicians, pundits, and the press will, in order to better resonate with voter sentiment, attempt to make the election focus on a specific issue or policy. Overall, a referendum may be used in a traditional specific-issue sense or as a more liberal interpretation of the views of the voting public. Looking at the elections of the 1980’s, they were considered to be a referendum on the reforms of Margaret Thatcher. Considering that the Iraq War began in 2003, the 2005 election became a referendum on British involvement in the war. Most recently, the 2010 election became a referendum on the Labour government’s handling of the economy during the recession, and this upcoming election may well be a referendum about Britain’s place in the European Union. Moreover, within the next several years, we may be facing a specific referendum on European Union membership. Since, as you can see, the word referendum is often used in connection with elections, but let us delve a little deeper into it.
Unsurprisingly, the term itself, much like most of our legal terms and, indeed, our political system, comes from the Romans. Translated from the Latin term referendum, the meaning of the word is literally “thing brought back,” which, in electoral terms, means bringing an issue directly to the voters. And while we do have our say on local as well as larger national issues, using the above examples cited, we, as voters, can’t normally vote on singular specific issues and aspects of policy. However, an election can be considered a referendum because we do know the platforms of each party and can vote for them accordingly. For example, if we were against British involvement in the Iraq War, we could have voiced our displeasure by voting for a party in opposition of the then-current Labour government.
Entering English in the latter half of the 1700’s and reaching applied usage in the early 1800’s, our word was initially most closely associated with Switzerland due to the Swiss system of government, specific referendums on the federal or Canton-level are fairly common. In fact, the first known usage of the word from the Annual Register of 1816 revolves around the Pope’s influences in the Catholic areas of Switzerland, stating that “Eleven deputies rejected the Pope’s demand; nine voted for the referendum; and two deputies reserved their votes.” Soon though, the term began to achieve more widespread usage, as can be seen in James Young’s The New American Governments and Its Works, which, noting the appeal of localised government and accountability, states that “In the United States the Referendum has been frequently used from the earliest times.” Bringing the word a little closer to home and looking at a quote from 1975 that still has tremendous impact today, an Act of Parliament proposes that “A referendum shall be held on the question whether the United Kingdom is to remain a member of the European Economic Community.”
