BharatNotes Plebiscite
nounUsage in a UPSC answer
Faced with competing claims to a disputed territory, the international community has often urged a plebiscite, holding that the durable legitimacy of any settlement rests ultimately on the freely expressed will of the people who inhabit it.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
plebiscitary (adj), plebiscitarian (adj/n), plebiscitarily (adv)
Root
Latin plēbs = the common people; scītum = decree (from scīscere = to vote for); via French plébiscite
Etymology
From French plébiscite, from Latin plēbiscītum, combining plēbs ("the common people") and scītum ("decree," from scīscere, "to vote for"); first used in English in the mid-16th century referring to Roman law.
Memory Hook
Think "PLEB-i-scite" — the PLEBs (common people) cast their vote; a plebiscite is the people's verdict, not the ruler's decree.
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
A direct vote of a population on a question of sovereignty. Two instances arose in the integration of the princely states and they went very differently. Junagadh's ruler acceded to Pakistan although the state was contiguous with India and overwhelmingly Hindu; India declined to accept the accession, the ruler left, and a plebiscite in February 1948 returned an overwhelming vote for India. Jammu and Kashmir is the case that endured. After the Maharaja acceded in October 1947 and India referred the matter to the United Nations, the Commission for India and Pakistan resolutions of 1948 and 1949 envisaged a plebiscite, but made it conditional on a sequence in which Pakistan withdrew its forces first, India then reduced its own, and only thereafter would a vote be held. India's position is that the first condition was never met, so the proposal did not become operative, and that since the Simla Agreement of 1972 outstanding matters are to be settled bilaterally.
Don’t Confuse It With
A plebiscite and a referendum are essentially the same device, though plebiscite is used more often for questions of sovereignty and territory. Self-determination is the principle a plebiscite is meant to give effect to. Accession was the legal instrument by which a princely state joined a dominion and required no popular vote at all, since the Instrument of Accession was executed by the ruler, which is precisely why popular ratification became contested wherever ruler and population were differently inclined.
Hindi Meaning
जनमत संग्रह (janmat sangrah).
Common Questions
- Where was a plebiscite actually held during integration?
- In Junagadh in February 1948, after its ruler acceded to Pakistan despite the state being contiguous with India; the vote went overwhelmingly for India.
- Why was the proposed plebiscite in Kashmir not held?
- The UN resolutions made it conditional on a sequence beginning with the withdrawal of Pakistani forces, and India's position is that this first step was never taken, so the later stages did not arise.
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