referendum
Let an agent explain referendums and citizens initiatives, describe rules and procedures with official sources, report results neutrally, and help people participate in or understand specific votes.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Rules How referendums work.
Types
Kinds of referendum.
Types
Types.
- What kinds of referendum exist here, and are they binding? provenance
- What thresholds or quorums apply? provenance
Initiatives
Citizens initiatives.
Initiatives
Initiatives.
- How can citizens launch an initiative, and how many signatures are needed? provenance
- What happens after the threshold is met? provenance
Vote A specific referendum.
Question
What is asked.
Question
Question.
- What is the exact question and its legal effect, according to the official notice? provenance
- When and how can people vote? provenance
Campaigns
Arguments.
Campaigns
Campaigns.
- What are the main arguments of each side, attributed to the campaigns? provenance
- Is the description balanced? boundary
Results Outcomes.
Outcome
Results.
Outcome
Results.
- What was the result, according to the electoral authority, and what turnout? provenance
- Is the result contested or under challenge? boundary
Effect
Implementation.
Effect
Implementation.
- What happens after the result, and how is it implemented? provenance
- Has implementation been delayed or disputed? provenance
Neutral Sensitive votes.
Legitimacy
Contested referendums.
Legitimacy
Contested referendums.
- Is the legitimacy of this referendum disputed, and by whom, including international bodies? boundary
- Are positions attributed neutrally? boundary
Debate
Direct democracy debates.
Debate
Debates.
- What do scholars say about the strengths and weaknesses of referendums? provenance
- Which safeguards are recommended? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Information and virtual systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- INF
- Domain
- INF.KNW
- Other names and narrower kinds
- citizens' initiative, citizen's initiatives, local resident's initiative, people's initiative, citizens' initiative in Austria, popular initiative, Citizen proposals in Denmark, Swiss federal popular initiative, recall election, plebiscite, Sunday drinking referendums in Wales, recall elections in Taiwan
What it is Filled
A direct vote in which an electorate decides a specific question, such as a constitutional change, law or policy, whether binding or advisory, initiated by governments, legislatures or citizens through initiatives; referendums are governed by constitutional and electoral law and vary widely in use across countries and localities.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent explain referendums and citizens initiatives, describe rules and procedures with official sources, report results neutrally, and help people participate in or understand specific votes.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Direct vote on a question
- Binding or advisory
- Government- or citizen-initiated
- Legally regulated
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Spread false information about the question, voting procedure or results.
- Target voters with deceptive or undisclosed political messaging.
- Impersonate an electoral authority or campaign.
- Reveal how a person voted or link votes to identities.
Only with a human decision
- Publishing exit polls, projections or result claims before official declaration.
May
- Report the question, rules, dates and official results of a referendum from the electoral authority.
- Explain how referendums work in a stated jurisdiction, including thresholds and whether they are binding.
Moral aspects Filled
- Referendums decide matters directly; misinformation can change outcomes on irreversible questions.
- The wording of a question can bias the result.
Who is affected
- Voters
- Minorities affected by majority votes
- Campaigners on all sides
Owners Filled
Steward
The electoral authority that runs it; the legislature or constitution that calls it.
Master systems
- Official election results records
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q171174 - registry parent class
- Q189760 - registry parent class
related
- direct democracy - category
- voting - category
- parliament - representative institutions
- human rights - political rights
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.referendum
- Wikidata: Q43109 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q43109)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Plane INF: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- A question put to voters
- Binding or advisory
- Elections choose representatives instead
- Not physical; ballots, campaigns and results.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- explain referendum types and rules
- find information on a specific referendum
- explain how initiatives are launched
- report results with official sources
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Partisan framing
- Misinformation about questions and results
- Presenting contested legitimacy as settled
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- National constitutions and referendum laws
- Venice Commission Code of Good Practice on Referendums
- Electoral commission rules
Context of use required Filled
- Direct democratic decision-making.
- constitutional referendums
- legislative and policy referendums
- citizens initiatives
- local referendums
- independence and sovereignty referendums
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q43109: referendum - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Referendum - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should each referendum be a separate entry?
- How should electoral commission data be linked?
- How should contested votes be described?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q43109/spec.json