Word: referenda
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...plan does not go as far as other direct democracy systems in Switzerland or California, where citizens can pass regulations via ballot initiatives or referenda. But in some ways, it will likely be easier for E.U. residents to propose new laws. One million signatures sounds daunting, but that's just 0.2% of the E.U.'s total population. By contrast, Swiss initiatives require signatures from about 2% of the population to trigger a national vote. And in an age when musicians from Coldplay to Lily Allen have millions of followers on Twitter and Facebook, collecting 1 million names could...
...person who was indicted on corruption charges and soon thereafter impeached. While we demanded more accountability among elected officials, we asked for more freedom for all Americans. This year could have been an important one in terms of securing the right to marriage for gay couples, with according referenda on the ballot in several states. Unfortunately, special interest groups had such an influence that the majority of people in those states voted to deny rights to a significant minority. We were strongly against Prop 8 in California and its equivalent in other states; now, we hope that these referenda will...
Simon Hix, a professor at the London School of Economics and author of What's Wrong with the European Union and How to Fix It, observes that the elections tend to serve as referenda on national political issues rather than addressing European ones. "It's not a genuine contest for power at the European level," he says. (See pictures of London...
...even as the Connecticut decision brought celebration to New England this week, it was a stark counterpoint of last week’s wave of bad news: from California, Florida and Arizona, all of which passed referenda amending their state constitutions to ban same-sex marriage. Even as Massachusetts and California appeared at one point to sit at the vanguard of a movement for marriage equality in the United States, the popular tide seems to have turned in a worrying direction...
...least. The role Spare Change plays as an agent for empowering the homeless gives it value beyond that of economic improvement, jobs, or profit. Its value is cultural. Articles in a recent issue highlighted the effect of the credit crisis on soup kitchens and non-profit organizations, explained referenda on the ballot yesterday, and offered a heroin addict’s perspective on recovery. These voices define Spare Change as a cultural institution unique to Harvard Square—an area long known for its pursuit of truth. Through many state, federal, and local administrations and their efforts to eradicate...