A mandatory referendum, also known as an obligatory referendum, is a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

that is legally required to be held under specific circumstances. This is in contrast to an optional referendum, which comes from either by public or legislative request. The actions that require mandatory referendums are set by law and normally concern major governmental actions or matters of large public significance. The most commonly found example worldwide of a mandatory referendum is a required referendum to adopt or amend a national

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, which exists in many countries.

Austria

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, a mandatory referendum at the federal level is provided for in the event of an overall amendment to the federal constitution (Art. 44 para. 3 B-VG). An overall amendment to the constitution occurs when one or more of the construction principles of the constitution (democratic, federal, rule of law, separation of powers or liberal construction principle) are seriously changed. It is controversial whether only the National Council or also the Federal President can decide whether a constitutional amendment is categorized as an overall amendment and whether a referendum should therefore be held. According to the case law of the Constitutional Court, the implementation of a referendum cannot be forced, but is finally decided by the National Council. Failure to hold a referendum in the event of an overall amendment to the Federal Constitution can only be criticized as a procedural defect in the legislative process. The referendum of June 12, 1994 on Austria's accession to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

was an obligatory referendum at the federal level. In the summer of 2008 - a few weeks after the ratification of the

Lisbon Treaty The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is a European agreement that amends the two Treaty, treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by all Member stat ...

- the Social Democratic Party of Austria campaigned for mandatory referendums on major changes to the EU treaties. A corresponding parliamentary initiative requested mandatory referendums on major EU treaty amendments initially found a parliamentary majority, but ultimately failed due to the requirement of a two-thirds majority. A decision by the Federal Assembly to remove the Federal President before the end of his term of office (Art. 60, Para. 6 B-VG) triggers a mandatory referendum. So far there has been no use case for this.

Local referendums in Austria

At the state level, mandatory referendums are planned in the states of Vorarlberg and

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

. In Salzburg, every "general amendment to the state constitution" must be submitted to a referendum before it is announced in the state law gazette. In Vorarlberg, a mandatory referendum for individual, specially designated fundamental changes is ordered. In 1998 there was an obligatory referendum in Salzburg to abolish the mandatory

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

of the state government. The mandatory referendum in the city of Salzburg is planned at the municipal level. A referendum must be held in the event of a significant change in the urban landscapes that shape the cityscape. 1In this way, the protection of urban landscapes anchored in the City of Salzburg's Grassland Declaration is safeguarded against deterioration. In Carinthia there is a mandatory referendum in the event of a planned demise of a municipality.

Switzerland

Mandatory referendums in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, generally known as an obligatory referendum (, , , ) are a relatively common instrument of direct democracy. It is a mechanism that holds mandatory votation of some decisions of the federal,

cantonal The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...

, or municipal parliament and/or government, such as modifications of the Constitution or adhesion to supranational communities on a federal or cantonal level, or for example substantial financial decisions decreed by cantonal and/or communal executive and/or legislative bodies.

National mandatory referendums in Switzerland

Switzerland has three main subjects that require a mandatory referendum at the federal level: * For a total or partial revision of the federal constitution * To join a collective security organization (e.g. the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

) or a supranational community (e.g. the

) * To introduce urgent federal legislation without the required constitutional basis and which will be in force for longer than a year. The three subjects above require both a majority of the votes in the popular vote as well as in majority of the cantons ( double majority).

Bibliography

* Vincent Golay and Mix et Remix, ''Swiss political institutions'', Éditions loisirs et pédagogie, 2008. .

References

{{Reflist

External links

Referendums in Switzerland
Politics of Switzerland Referendums in Switzerland