plebiscitary

1 9.8

To ask people to vote directly to approve important decisions

adjective
/ˌplɛbɪˈsɪtɛri/

Specialized

: plebiscitario

They avoid authoritarian rhetoric but appeal to plebiscitary support for national salvation.
plebiscitary democracy

Examples

Republican constitutionalism would be replaced by plebiscitary democracy.

Academic text (1997)
Mrs. Gandhi's rule between the 1969 Congress split and the onset of the state emergency in 1975 is aptly characterized as plebiscitary.

Academic text (1997)
Max Weber, a prominent sociologist, laid down three stages of party development: from aristocratic cliques to parties of notables and finally to Athenian (plebiscitary) democracy.

Academic text (2018)
A plebiscitary vote allows citizens to express their opinions directly on important issues.
The government decided to hold a plebiscitary referendum to determine public support for the new policy.
Citizens participated in a plebiscitary election that influenced the future direction of their community.

Synonyms

plebiscitarian

vsplebiscitary

Specialized

9.9

Favoring direct votes by all the people

is neutral and describes processes using direct public approval or mass votes

Surface Forms

plebiscitary positive

Morphology

plebiscitary = plebiscite (transparent) = plebiscite + ary

The suffix '-ary' is a common adjective-forming suffix indicating relation to the noun 'plebiscite'.

Etymology

Plebiscitary comes from plebiscite, a word built on Latin plebs meaning 'the people'. So plebiscitary describes a way of ruling or deciding that depends on direct votes or referendums by the people.