BharatNotes Referendum
noun (plural: referendums or referenda)Usage in a UPSC answer
When a constitutional amendment touches the very basis of the federal compact, several democracies require its endorsement through a referendum, ensuring that so fundamental a change derives its legitimacy directly from the sovereign will of the people rather than from a transient legislative majority.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
referenda (n pl), referendums (n pl), refer (v), referral (n), referent (n/adj)
Root
Latin referendum = that which ought to be referred (gerundive of referre); re- = back + ferre = to carry, bring
Etymology
From Latin referendum ("that which ought to be referred"), the gerundive of referre ("to carry back, to refer"), from re- ("back") + ferre ("to bring, to carry").
Memory Hook
'Refer' the question back to the people: a REFERENDUM is when a matter is referred to the voters for their direct verdict.
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
A direct vote of the electorate on a single question. Two were held in 1947 and both repay attention. The North-West Frontier Province voted between 6 and 17 July on joining India or Pakistan and returned an overwhelming majority for Pakistan, but the legitimacy of that figure is contested, because the Khudai Khidmatgar under Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the Congress ministry of Dr Khan Sahib boycotted the poll, objecting that the ballot offered no option of independence or of joining Afghanistan. A near-unanimous result obtained from a vote a large section deliberately abstained from proves less than it appears to. Sylhet, in Assam, voted in the same month to join East Bengal, which is how a Bengali-speaking Muslim-majority district left Assam. The general lesson is constitutional: a referendum's authority depends on the range of options offered quite as much as on the counting.
Don’t Confuse It With
A referendum refers a question to the electorate, and a plebiscite is essentially the same device, the second word being used more often for questions of sovereignty and territory. An election chooses representatives rather than settling a question. A boycott withdraws participation, which is why turnout matters as much as the margin when judging a result. Note that India's Constitution provides no general referendum mechanism, amendments being made by Parliament and, where required, ratified by state legislatures.
Hindi Meaning
जनमत संग्रह (janmat sangrah).
Common Questions
- Which referendums were held in 1947?
- One in the North-West Frontier Province in July and one in Sylhet in Assam, both on whether to join India or Pakistan.
- Why is the NWFP referendum result disputed?
- Because the Khudai Khidmatgar and the Congress ministry boycotted it, objecting that the ballot allowed no option of independence or of joining Afghanistan, so the overwhelming margin came from a poll many voters deliberately abstained from.
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