The Role of National Referendum in Central and Eastern European Countries. Selected Experiences
The Role of National Referendum in Central and Eastern European Countries. Selected Experiences

Summary/Abstract: Direct democratic choices have been of great importance in Central and Eastern European countries since they have marked the key steps on those states’paths to democracy. Direct democracy – particularly referendum – is arousing increasing interest among politicians and the electorate, which is manifested in the ongoing public debate on the role of civil participation in decision-making processes, as well as in the increase in the number of national referendum held in Europe and worldwide. Hence, studies on referendum in Central and Eastern Europe seem to be a very interesting and academically important task worthy of further exploration. The main research aim of this paper is to answer the question of the role of nationwide referendum in the political practice of Central and Eastern European states, as well as the question of the future prospects for the use of referendum. More emphasis is placed on referendum conducted after 1989. On the basis of these research results, referendum are divided into three categories: independence referendum, so called “deepening” referendum and accession referendum.

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