Direct Democracy Database

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Are referendum results binding?

Theme	Referendum
Description	Binding referendum is a vote of the electorate where, if a proposal passes, the government or appropriate authority is compelled to implement it.

Breakdown by continent

Continent	Optional referendum - never	Not specified by legislation	Mandatory referendum - never	Optional referendum - always	Mandatory referendum - always	Optional referendum - sometimes	Mandatory referendum - sometimes	Other	No data	Countries researched
Africa	1 (2.0%)	5 (10.2%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (49.0%)	28 (57.1%)	1 (2.0%)	4 (8.2%)	2 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	49
Americas	1 (3.3%)	3 (10.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (36.7%)	15 (50.0%)	5 (16.7%)	2 (6.7%)	1 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	30
Asia	0 (0.0%)	5 (16.7%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (60.0%)	14 (46.7%)	1 (3.3%)	1 (3.3%)	1 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	30
Europe	7 (20.6%)	3 (8.8%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (52.9%)	20 (58.8%)	3 (8.8%)	1 (2.9%)	2 (5.9%)	0 (0.0%)	34
Oceania	1 (9.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (90.9%)	1 (9.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11
Other	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0
Total	10	16	0	71	87	11	8	6	0	154

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Country	Year	Value (Text)	Details
Afghanistan	2014	Not specified by legislation	View
Albania	2022	Optional referendum - always	View
Algeria	2013	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Andorra	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - never	View
Angola	2013	Not specified by legislation	View
Antigua and Barbuda	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - not specified	View
Argentina	2014	Optional referendum - sometimes	View
Armenia	2022	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Australia	2015	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Austria	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - sometimes	View
Azerbaijan	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Bahamas	2014	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Bahrain	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Belarus	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Belize	2013	Not specified by legislation	View
Benin	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Bermuda	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Bhutan	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Bolivia	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Botswana	2014	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Brazil	2013	Optional referendum - always	View
Bulgaria	2022	Optional referendum - always	View
Burkina Faso	2014	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Burundi	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Cabo Verde	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Cameroon	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Canada	2013	Optional referendum - never	View
Cayman Islands	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Central African Republic	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Chad	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Chile	2022	Optional referendum - always	View
Colombia	2017	Optional referendum - always	View
Congo, Democratic Republic of	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Cook Islands	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - never	View
Costa Rica	2014	Optional referendum - sometimes	View
Croatia	2013	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Côte d'Ivoire	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Denmark	2018	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Dominica	2014	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Dominican Republic	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Ecuador	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Egypt	2014	Mandatory referendum - always	View
El Salvador	2014	Not specified by legislation	View
Equatorial Guinea	2013	Optional referendum - always	View
Estonia	2013	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Eswatini	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Ethiopia	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Fiji	2014	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Finland	2014	Optional referendum - never	View
France	2014	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Gabon	2013	Optional referendum - always Mandatory referendum - not specified by legislation	View
Georgia	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Ghana	2013	Mandatory referendum - sometimes	View
Gibraltar	2017	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Greece	2013	Not specified by legislation	View
Grenada	2013	Mandatory referendum - sometimes	View
Guatemala	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Honduras	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Hungary	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - sometimes	View
Iran, Islamic Republic of	2013	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Iraq	2013	Mandatory referendum - sometimes	View
Ireland	2022	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Italy	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Jamaica	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Japan	2014	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Kazakhstan	2013	Optional referendum - always	View
Kenya	2022	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Kiribati	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Korea, Republic of	2014	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Kyrgyzstan	2013	Optional referendum - always	View
Latvia	2013	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Lesotho	2014	Mandatory referendum - sometimes Optional referendum - never	View
Liberia	2014	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Libya	2014	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Lithuania	2013	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - never	View
Luxembourg	2017	Optional referendum - always	View
Madagascar	2013	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Malawi	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Maldives	2013	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Mali	2013	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Mauritania	2013	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Mauritius	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Mexico	2017	Optional referendum - sometimes	View
Micronesia, Federated States of	2017	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Moldova, Republic of	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - sometimes	View
Mongolia	2013	Optional referendum - sometimes	View
Montenegro	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Morocco	2014	Not specified by legislation	View
Mozambique	2013	Optional referendum - always	View
Myanmar	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Namibia	2013	Optional referendum - always	View
Nauru	2014	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Nepal	2013	Not specified by legislation	View
Netherlands	2018	Not applicable	View
New Zealand	2014	Optional referendum - sometimes	View
Nicaragua	2013	Not specified by legislation	View
Niger	2013	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Nigeria	2014	Mandatory referendum - sometimes	View
Niue	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
North Macedonia, Republic of	2017	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - sometimes	View
Pakistan	2013	Not specified by legislation	View
Palau	2014	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Panama	2014	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Paraguay	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - sometimes	View
Peru	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Philippines	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Poland	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Portugal	2018	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Qatar	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Republic of The Congo (Brazzaville)	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Romania	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - never	View
Russian Federation	2013	Optional referendum - always	View
Rwanda	2014	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Saint Kitts and Nevis	2014	Mandatory referendum - sometimes	View
Saint Lucia	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Samoa	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Senegal	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Serbia	2021	Mandatory referendum - sometimes Optional referendum - never	View
Seychelles	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Sierra Leone	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Singapore	2014	Not specified by legislation	View
Slovakia	2014	Not specified by legislation	View
Slovenia	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Somalia	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
South Africa	2013	Not specified by legislation	View
South Sudan	2013	Optional referendum - always	View
Spain	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - never	View
Sri Lanka	2013	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Sudan	2013	Optional referendum - always	View
Sweden	2013	Optional referendum - never	View
Switzerland	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Syrian Arab Republic	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
São Tomé and Príncipe	2013	Optional referendum - always	View
Taiwan	2018	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Tajikistan	2013	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Tanzania, United Republic of	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Thailand	2017	Not specified by legislation	View
The Gambia	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - not specified	View
Timor-Leste	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Togo	2014	Not specified by legislation	View
Tunisia	2014	Optional referendum - always	View
Turkey	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Turkmenistan	2013	Optional referendum - always Mandatory referendum - not specified	View
Uganda	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Ukraine	2013	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
United Kingdom	2015	Not specified by legislation	View
Uruguay	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Uzbekistan	2013	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - always	View
Vanuatu	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Venezuela	2014	Mandatory referendum - always Optional referendum - sometimes	View
Yemen	2013	Mandatory referendum - always	View
Zambia	2013	Mandatory referendum - sometimes Optional referendum - sometimes	View
Zimbabwe	2014	Not specified by legislation	View

Total number of countries in selected sample: 154

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Are referendum results binding?

Breakdown by continent

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