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"Referendums really are a
good thing"
TAIPEI TIMES - July 10, 2003
By Wu Ming-chi
Thursday, Jul 10, 2003,Page 8
Thomas Jefferson proposed
including a legislative referendum in the 1775 Virginia State
Constitution, arguing that "the people are the only sure
reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
In Federalist Paper No. 49,
James Madison argued, "[a]s the people are the only
legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the
constitutional charter, under which the several branches of
government hold their power, is derived, it seems strictly
consonant to the republican theory to recur to the same
original authority ... whenever it may be necessary to
enlarge, diminish, or new-model the powers of
government."
From this basic principle of
the people being the "only legitimate fountain of
power" in a demo-cracy, citizens of the US, through the
initiative process, have the ability in 24 states to adopt
laws or to amend the state Constitution. Through the
referendum process, citizens of these and other states also
have the ability to reject laws or amendments proposed by the
state legislature.
Referendums come in two forms.
A popular referendum, possible in 24 US states, is where the
people have the power to refer, through a petition, specific
legislation that was enacted by their legislature for the
people to either accept or reject.
In all states, legislative
referendums are possible where the state legislatures, elected
officials, state-appointed constitutional revision commissions
or other government agencies submit propositions to the people
for approval or rejection.
Taiwan is seeking to pass a
referendum law that legitimizes this right for the citizens of
democratic Taiwan. By proposing such a law, legislators are
clearly seeking to solidify democracy in the nation as well as
break the gridlock that has hamstrung important
decision-making over the past several years as a result of the
split in the Legislative Yuan between the pan-green and
pan-blue factions.
It is interesting to note that,
just as Taiwan is proposing a way to strengthen its democratic
processes, the Hong Kong government, controlled by Beijing, is
pressing into place a new anti-subversion law that is
anti-democratic in form and substance.
As The Wall Street Journal
noted, "The new anti-subversion law is a good example of
how democracy would make a crucial difference in governing
Hong Kong. Without the assurance that they can vote out their
leaders at the next election, Hong Kong's people are unwilling
to trust them with security laws that might be abused for
political ends. But with democracy, such laws would be much
more palatable."
There can be no argument about
how integral the initiative and referendum process is to
democracy and why, as a matter of right, Taiwan wishes to
proceed with a referendum law.
President Chen Shui-bian has
vowed not to put Tai-wan's independence to a referendum, as
long as the China does not use force against Taiwan. Such a
compromise seems necessary in the current political climate.
However, it should not stymie reasonable democratic progress.
Chen is now proposing a
circumscribed referendum law that will cover a number of
serious public welfare issues, domestic issues -- like the
Fourth Nuclear Power Plant -- and possibly even legislative
reform, change of the electoral system or cutting down the
number of legislators.
I believe that a referendum on
Taiwan's membership in the World Health Organization would be
an important step forward. Such a referendum will result in a
huge vote of support and there will be no logistical
consequences. As a political vote, a WHO referendum would
create no practical problems to solve afterwards.
Taiwan's people will get used
to the concept of a referendum, preparing the way for more
complicated, and politically difficult, referendums such as on
the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and reform of the Legislative
Yuan.
Chen is struggling, just as
Jefferson and Madison before him, to give form and context to
democracy in a new time and place. The normalization of the
concept of a referendum on public policy issues will parallel
the process in the US, with the one difference that Taiwan is
small enough for the referendums to take place at the
national, not simply the state, level.
Taiwan needs to move to a
deeper stage of democracy and get beyond the current political
paralysis. A referendum law is one more step in this
democratic journey.
American policy-makers need not
worry. The people and government of Taiwan will be wise in
their use of referendums.
Wu Ming-chi is the president of
the Formosan Association for Public Affairs |
