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The referendums in Germany is an element of direct democracy in Germany. On the federal level only two types of a mandatory binding referendum exist - in changing the constitution and in changing the state territories. All states have an enacted laws for popular indirect initiatives allowing to collect signatures for a request to the government. The government may issue a poll on any topic whereas the outcome is usually non-binding. The German referendum system has three types * Volksbegehren (literally ''people's request'') is a citizens' initiative - if the government ignores the request it could directly lead into a "Volksentscheid" * Volksbefragung (literally ''people's inquiry'') is non-binding facultative ballot question and the most common type of referendums * Volksentscheid (literally ''people's decision'') is a binding plebiscite but this type is only used if the constitution requires it (mandatory). The term ''Volksinitiative'' (''people's initiative'') is a synonym of ''Volksbegehren'' and it is the official term in Switzerland. On the municipal level the three types are paralleled with * Bürgerbegehren (literally ''citizens' request'') as the local citizens' initiative * Bürgerbefragung (literally ''citizens' inquiry'') for a local ballot question and * Bürgerentscheid (literally ''citizins' decision'') for local plebiscite. Note that in the city states the state citizens' initiative types are commonly called ''Bürgerbegehren'' while being at the same legal level as ''Volksbegehren'' in other Bundesländer states. Note that the term "Bürgerinitiative" (literally ''citizens' initiative'') is used informally for non-partisan local campaign organizations (political action groups). == Federal Concept == Following World War II the new republic was founded with only minor elements of direct democracy. On the federal level there are only two mandatory constitutional referendum types - one is in case of enacting a new constitution (although changes to the constitution do not require a public vote and there is no provision for an initiative for a constitutional amendment) that has never been used although there was an argument in that direction during German reunification. The other type requires a public vote in case of restructuring the Bundesländer (states) ("Neugliederung des Bundesgebietes") which led to a referendum on the union of Baden and Württemberg into Baden-Württemberg in 1951 (accepted) and a referendum on the union of Berlin and Brandenburg into Berlin-Brandenburg in 1996 (rejected). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Referendums in Germany」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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