Referendum

A referendum (in some countries synonymous with plebiscite — or a vote on a ballot question) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to vote on a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new law.

Some definitions of plebiscite suggest that it is a type of vote to change the constitution or government of a country. Others define it as the opposite. Australia defines 'referendum' as a vote to change the constitution and 'plebiscite' as a vote that does not affect the constitution. In contrast, Ireland has only ever held one 'plebiscite' which was the vote to adopt its constitution and each other similar vote has been styled a 'referendum'.

Terminology

Referendum is the gerund of the Latin verb refero, and has the meaning "bringing back" (i.e., bringing the question back to the people). The term plebiscite has a generally similar meaning in modern usage, and comes from the Latin plebiscita, which originally meant a decree of the Concilium Plebis (Plebeian Council), the popular assembly of the Roman Republic. Today, a "referendum" can also often be referred to as a "plebiscite", but in some countries the two terms are used differently to refer to votes with differing types of legal consequences.

Milorad Dodik

Milorad Dodik (Serbian Cyrillic: Милорад Додик, pronounced [milorǎd dɔdik]; born March 12, 1959) is a Bosnian Serb politician and president of Republika Srpska since 2010. He serves as a president for a second term. Previously, he was a prime minister of Republika Srpska for two terms, between 1998 and 2001, and between 2006 and 2010.

Early life

Dodik was born in Laktaši to Bogoljub and Mira Dodik. He lived in Laktaši where he attended elementary school. In 1978 he graduated from an agricultural highschool in Banja Luka, after which he entered the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Belgrade, where he graduated in 1983.

Political career

From 1986 through 1990 he was the Chairman of the Executive Board of the Municipal Assembly of Laktaši. In 1990, in the first multi-party elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina he was elected to the Parliament of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a candidate of the Union of Reform Forces. During the Bosnian War, he served as a representative in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska. During that time, he formed the Independent Members of Parliament Caucus (Клуб независних посланика у Народној Скупштини Републике Српске, Klub nezavisnih poslanika u Narodnoj Skupštini Republike Srpske), which was the only political opposition to the Serb Democratic Party (Српска демократска странка, Srpska demokratska stranka), which held the absolute majority in the war-time parliament of the Republika Srpska. The caucus he chaired was to form the core of the Party of Independent Social Democrats (Stranka nezavisnih socijaldemokrata, or SNSD) in 1996, after the peace was signed as a result of the Dayton Agreement. He was elected as the first President of SNSD. The party later united with another social-democratic party to form the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, of which Dodik is President.