, a constitutional amendment
, a law
, the recall
of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of direct democracy
. The word plebiscite comes from the Latin plebiscita, which originally meant a decree of the Concilium Plebis
, the popular assembly of the Roman Republic
.
1860 Parma, Tuscany, Modena and Romagna vote in referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia.
1905 Norway holds a referendum in favor of monarchy over republic.
1920 King Constantine I is restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander I of Greece and a plebiscite.
1936 In Germany, Adolf Hitler receives 99% of the votes in a referendum to ratify Germany's illegal reoccupation of the Rhineland, receiving 44.5 million votes out of 45.5 million registered voters.
1946 Birth of the Italian Republic: In a referendum, Italians vote to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After the referendum the king of Italy Umberto II di Savoia is exiled.
1961 In France a referendum supports Charles de Gaulle's policies in Algeria.
1962 Newly independent Algeria, by referendum, adopts a Constitution.
1975 India annexes Sikkim after the mountain state holds a referendum in which the popular vote is in favour of merging with India.
1976 The 1976 Constitution of Cuba is adopted by the national referendum.
1980 Andalusia approves its statute of autonomy through a referendum.