We explain what a popular consultation is, what forms it can take, its types and in what forms of government it is carried out.
What is a popular consultation?
The different forms of public deliberation that take place in the world, such as a mechanism for popular participation in political or social decisions. In other words, it is a mechanism to, precisely, submit a specific issue of importance to the will of public opinion.
Popular consultations are common in democracy, especially in forms of direct democracy, and are normally contemplated in the national constitution, which establishes the periods, dynamics and fundamental norms for their celebration. On the other hand, autocratic forms of government tend to be rather rare and unreliable.
The very idea of consulting the will of the people comes from ancient times, especially from the elections of the Roman Republic, or from the deliberation of the Greek Boulé, the council of citizens in charge of making public decisions. Currently, however, there are the following forms of popular consultation:
- Voting in which the electorally eligible population expresses its opinion secretly, directly and universally, always within the provisions of the suffrage laws.
- Popular legislative initiatives in which a specific group of citizens is consulted regarding a local legislative decision, or to support or oppose a bill.
- Plebiscites or referendums massive consultations with the population to decide on a political controversy or an important proposal.
On the other hand, popular queries can be of two types:
- Binding when its result constitutes a political obligation for the rulers.
- Non-binding when its result is simply an opinion to be taken into account for political leadership, without having the rank of law (although it does have a lot of moral weight).
Continue with: Citizen participation
References
- “Popular query” on Wikipedia.
- “Popular consultation” in Legislative Information System.
- “What is a popular consultation?” in Télam (Argentina).
- “Do you know what a popular query is?” (video) at the National Electoral Institute (Mexico).
