"Referendum" is the term given to a direct vote of the electorate required by the legal framework or requested by the Executive or Legislative on an issue of public policy, in contrast with votes cast at elections, which are made in relation to parties or individual candidates and generally reflect voters' preferences over a range of different issues. Referendums may be held in relation to particular circumstances (e.g., to amend a country's constitution) or in relation to particular political issues (e.g., whether or not to join an international organisation) but are in general held in relation to issues of major political significance. The terms used to define referendums may differ in different countries.
multi-option referendums
Throughout your section on referendums, I can find no mention of multi-option ballots. The two-option referendum is divisive and often inaccurate; we need look no further than the Balkans where, "all the wars in the former Yugoslavia started with a [two-option] referendum" (Oslobodjenje).
Multi-option referendums have been used in many countries, including Sweden; why, then, this silence?
Yours sincerely,
Peter Emerson
The de Borda Institute
www.deborda.org
reply please to pemerson@deborda.org