Back

The Research Team on the Study of Referendums, formed by a group of voluntary academics, has completed its study on referendums. The report entitled "Referendums Around the World and Lessons for Hong Kong" has also been released and can be downloaded from the POP Site (http://hkupop.hku.hk). The report comprises more than 35,000 words with 6 different chapters, and can hardly be explained in a few words. This article aims at summing up the development of referendums around the world and clarifying some unnecessary misunderstandings.

Owing to a strained manpower that includes 4 academics, namely Robert Chung, Kenneth Chan, Kin-man Chan and Wilson Wong, and 3 other supporting staff, and a tight 2-month timeframe, this report is by no means flawless. Your comments are therefore most welcomed.

All around the world, the Research Team noted that many countries have already instilled a referendum mechanism. However, after studying on the origins, developments and experiences of referendums, the Team find it difficult to generalize with a precise and universal evolvement principle due to various historical and cultural variations. As such, the Team can only wish to facilitate discussion by presenting the development trend of referendums.

From the historical perspective, direct democracy could be traced back to ancient Greek and Roman societies. Nonetheless, the milestone in the development of the institution of the referendums was set by the French revolution in 1789. In early 19th century, there were a number of Napoleonic votes or plebiscites being held to legitimize new regimes and constitutions, though none of them was based on the requirements of an effective constitution.

With the continuous development in democracy movements, more and more countries begin to acknowledge referendum as a legitimate constituent in their constitutional systems, and its operations are governed by respective laws. Since the 1970s, there is a rapid increase in the use of referendums in the whole world and the most conspicuous growth is recorded in Switzerland and the rest of Europe. Although most countries use referendums to amend constitutions, the device is not just applicable on political or legislative topics, as referendums can also be held to settle controversial social policy issues. For example, Switzerland has carried out national-wide referendums on policy topics like legalisation of casinos and ban on animal testing etc. In USA, direct elections are held on social welfare, environment and housing issues on state level.

Drawing from worldwide experiences, the Team regards both direct democracy and representative democracy as effective mechanisms to realise equal participation in politics and recognises that there is no inherent contradiction between the two main schools. Both direct and representative institutions can measure the will of people and become regular and complementary parts of government and politics. Because of that, although a number of countries define the usage of referendums by constitutions, they take place in the form of consultative vote in some countries whose constitutions do not mention them at all.

In relation to the applicable area, subject matter, the sponsoring body and legal status, referendums can be categorised into 54 types theoretically. According to applicable area, there are national-wide, regional and communal referendums. With different subject matters in concern, referendums can be used to deal with regional autonomy or territorial issues, constitutional changes and policies that affect citizens. Referendums can be initiated by 3 different sponsoring bodies, i.e. government, legislators and citizens. Last but not least, referendums can either be legally binding or non-legally binding of consultative or advisory nature. We can see that referendums are not limited to simple models as suggested in current discourse in Hong Kong, this device is indeed highly adaptable and flexible, offering numerous options for citizen to directly participate in formulating public policies. When deciding on how to enlarge civil society and realise citizen rights, the government and NGOs should not be bounded by issues on autonomy and constitutional amendments, instead they should take different types of referendums into account.

The Research Team believes that referendum can bring along very progressive and positive impacts if used appropriately in a just context. Applying the same logic, it can also result in more political debacles and deadlocks if such prerequisites are non-existent. Hence, one must recognise that referendums are not panaceas. We should benchmark other countries' experiences in the development of referendums so as to devise a comprehensive mechanism and arrangement. That will enlarge the room of political participation for citizens and allow them to vote on important social issues.

After reviewing the designs and arrangements of referendums in different countries, the Team agreed that it is possible to render flexibility on adding or removing certain attributes to avoid any possible negative development. For example, a requirement on absolute majority in passing motions can bar tyrannical policies from inception, and sensitive issues or those that are related to minority interests can also be exempted from referendums. It would be unfair to discard referendums solely because it may harm the interest of the minorities, as this argument can be found in all democratic systems. In actual fact, most criticisms on referendum, such as populism, majority tyranny and politically destabilising etc., are not its built-in deficiencies and not necessarily linked to its development. Indeed, most of the defects can be solved or alleviated through adjustment and management.

Global experiences also reveal that there is no evidence to suggest referendums would seriously undermine the representative political system. On the contrary, many countries complement their representative systems with referendums and encourage more citizens to participate in public affairs, thus enable the established political framework to respond to public demand and at the same time, increase the general public's level of confidence on democracy system. Should referendums be used appropriately, they can even foster political stability. In many occasions, governments will legitimize some important political decisions with referendums, like endorsing a new constitution or entering into an important international organisation. Besides, referendums can also be used to solve political insurgencies.

Having said that, referendums are inapplicable on issues that are sharply divided in the society or involve core social values. The use of referendums in such conditions may bring about perilous and negative impacts. If referendum is too swift an approach for these controversies, other means such as manoeuvring should be used instead. A prudent and clear-sighted process is as important as voting itself in democracy.

Referendums and periodic elections are very similar in terms of nature and format, according to the analysis of the Research Team. Judging from the maturity of our society, the legal point of view and the actual situations, Hong Kong is ready for referendums. They can be called for, either by the government or citizens, to address a wide range of social issues.

However, China and HK government are too conservative to embrace referendums. As the possibility of having any government-initiated referendum in the near future is daunting, it may be more fruitful to encourage public political participation by uniting the civil front to push forward referendums in the society. Whereas how to vote on what topic and when is beyond the scope of this discussion.