Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage, transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The word is also used to refer to a period of time during which such bans are enforced.
The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and ratified by the requisite number of states on January 16, 1919. The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5, 1933, making it the only constitutional amendment in American history to be repealed.
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emphasize alcohol's negative effects on people's health, personalities and family lives. Typically the movement promotes alcohol education and it also demands the passage of new laws against the sale of alcohol, either regulations on the availability of alcohol, or the complete prohibition of it.
National referendums are seldom used in Canada. The first two referendums in 1898 and 1942 saw a large number of voters in Quebec and in the remainder of Canada take dramatically-opposing stands, and the third in 1992 saw most of the voters take a stand opposed to that of the party in power.
Since the introduction of parliamentarism in Sweden, six national referendums have been held. Legal provisions for referendums were introduced in 1922, one year after the adoption of universal suffrage. The Constitution of Sweden provides for binding referendums, but all referendums held as of 2012 have been non-binding. The latest referendum, on adopting the euro, was held on 14 September 2003.
In Ireland, direct elections by universal suffrage are used for the President, the ceremonial head of state; for Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas or parliament; for the European Parliament; and for local government. All elections use proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV) in constituencies returning three or more members, except that the presidential election and by-elections use the single-winner analogue of STV, elsewhere called instant-runoff voting or the alternative vote. Members of Seanad Éireann, the second house of the Oireachtas, are partly nominated, partly indirectly elected, and partly elected by graduates of particular universities.
The Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1995 is an amendment of the Constitution of Ireland which removed the constitutional prohibition on divorce, and allowed for the dissolution of a marriage provided specified conditions were satisfied. It was approved by referendum on 24 November 1995 and signed into law on 17 June 1996.
A non-binding referendum on introduction of the euro was held in Sweden on 14 September 2003. The majority voted not to adopt the euro, and thus Sweden decided in 2003 not to adopt the euro for the time being. Had they voted in favour, the plan was that Sweden would have adopted the euro on 1 January 2006.
A plebiscite on the legality of alcoholic beverages was held in Ontario, Canada on January 1, 1894. Per the terms of the Prohibition Plebiscite Act passed in 1893, a plebiscite was held on the issue of prohibition in conjunction with the 1894 municipal elections. Though a majority of voters indicated support for prohibition, the results were non-binding and prohibition would not occur in Ontario until 1916.
The Bratt System was a system that was used in Sweden (1919–1955) and similarly in Finland (1944–1970) to control alcohol consumption, by rationing of liquor. Every citizen allowed to consume alcohol was given a booklet called a motbok, in which a stamp was added each time a purchase was made at Systembolaget and Alko. A somewhat similar system called tšekisüsteem also existed in Estonia between July 1, 1920 and December 31, 1925. The stamps were based on the amount of alcohol bought. When a certain amount of alcohol had been bought, the owner of the booklet had to wait until next month to buy more.
The Quebec referendum on the prohibition of alcohol, held on April 10, 1919, considered the legalization of the sale of beer, cider and wine in the province of Quebec, Canada. The 'yes' side won with 78.62% of the votes.
A referendum was held on 9 December 1950 in the Australian state of Western Australia on the topic of prohibition. It was the fourth referendum on the topic of liquor licensing, and the second put to voters with the same wording. The proposal that alcohol should be prohibited was rejected 73% of voters.
A non-binding referendum on the introduction of right hand traffic was held in Sweden on 16 October 1955.
A non-binding referendum on reforming the pensions system was held in Sweden on 13 October 1957. Three proposals were put to voters:
- Employees would have the right to supplement their pension in proportion with earnings whilst working and linked to the 15 years in which they had the highest income. The value of the pension would be guaranteed by the government. Those earning income via other means, such as business owners, would have the right to sign up to voluntary supplementary pensions whose value would also be guaranteed by the government.
- All income earners would have the right to sign up for voluntary pension supplements, whose value would be guaranteed by the government.
- All income earners would have the right to sign up for voluntary pension supplements, and changes would be made to legislation to ensure their value is maintained without government involvement. The supplements would be open to collective and individual agreements.
A non-binding referendum on nuclear power was held in Sweden on 23 March 1980. Three proposals were put to voters. The second option, the gradual phasing out of nuclear power, won a narrow plurality of the vote, receiving 39.1% of the ballots cast to 38.7% for option 3. Option 1 was the least popular, receiving only 18.9% of the votes.
A non-binding referendum on membership for the European Union was held in Sweden on 13 November 1994. 53% of voters voted in favour, with a turnout of 83%.
A number of referendums on alcohol licensing were held in New Zealand between 2 December 1894 and 15 August 1987. Because of their differing questions and rules, these referendums can be broken down into three time periods divided by what options were presented to voters.
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This article summarises referendum laws and practice in various countries.
The 1918 United States elections elected the 66th United States Congress, and took place in the middle of Democratic President Woodrow Wilson's second term. The election was held during the Fourth Party System. It was the lone election to take place during America's involvement in World War I. Republicans won control of both chambers of Congress for the first time since the 1908 election.
A four-part referendum on alcohol was held in the Faroe Islands on 6 November 1907. Voters were asked whether they approved of the trading and serving of beer, wine and spirits. All four proposals were rejected by voters. Following the referendum, prohibition was introduced in 1908 on all beverages with an alcohol content above 2%. An attempt in 1973 to overturn this ban was rejected in another referendum, but it was eventually lifted in 1992.
