The constitution, adopted by referendum in 2005, and promulgated by President Joseph Kabila in February 2006, establishes a decentralized semi-presidential republic, with a separation of powers between the three branches of government-executive, legislative and judiciary, and a distribution of prerogatives between the central government and the provinces.

A 1968 referendum approved a constitution making Maldives a republic with executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.

The Senate of Poland was abolished by the Polish people's referendum, in 1946, after which the Sejm became the sole legislative body in Poland.

In August 2009 as part of its third legislative term in the Scottish Parliament, the Government proposes to debate the Scottish referendum bill 2010, which would set out a planned referendum for 30th November 2010 on the issue of Scottish independence.

The use of the initiative, referendum, and recall are all tools of direct democracy that allow the electorate to exercise legislative power independently from their republican representatives.

A referendum ( also known as a plebiscite or a vote on a ballot question ) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal, usually a piece of legislation which has been passed into law by the local legislative body and signed by the pertinent executive official ( s ).

The county legislative body is subject to various restrictions in imposing most taxes ( such as referendum approval or rate limits, for example ), although these do not apply to the property tax.

The county legislative body serves an important role in exercising local approval authority for private acts when the private act does not call for referendum approval.

Private acts, which often give additional authority to counties, must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the members of the county legislative body or be approved by a referendum in order to become effective.

After a referendum and a bitter legislative fight, the county seat moved from Springer to Raton in 1897.

In every legislative session, state legislators representing the area introduced a bill in the Georgia General Assembly to authorize a referendum on incorporation.

The possibility of recall referenda ( together with the popular election of executives, the initiative and the legislative referendum ) was introduced into several cantonal constitutions after the 1860s in the course of a broad movement for democratic reform.

In the 2008 legislative election, the coalition won 86 of 113 seats in the Legislative Yuan, giving it the absolute majority needed to recall the president and pass constitutional amendments for a referendum.

An amendment to the Colorado state constitution (" Amendment 2 ") that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to recognize gay and lesbian citizens as a protected class was passed by Colorado voters in a referendum.

Districts are created by legislative action, court action, or public referendum.

Civil disobedience, in a properly functioning democracy, allows a minority who feel strongly that a law infringes their sense of justice ( but have no capacity to obtain legislative amendments or a referendum on the issue ) to make a potentially apathetic or uninformed majority take account of the intensity of opposing views.

Opponents of such constitutional reforms argued that by eliminating the 3 / 4 legislative vote requirement, a relatively small number of voters could force a referendum on Taiwan independence which would trigger a crisis with the People's Republic of China.

In 2009, during the campaign to the legislative election of 2009, the leader of Socialist Party, José Sócrates, promised a new referendum to the administrative regions and therefore, the abolition of districts, if he gained the election.

In August 2009, the SNP announced that the Referendum ( Scotland ) Bill, 2010 would be part of its third legislative programme for 2009-10, which would detail the question and conduct of a possible referendum on the issue of independence.

For example, the Constitution of France may be amended by one of two processes: either by a special legislative majority, or alternatively by referendum.

For example, most provisions of the constitution of Lithuania may be amended by a special legislative majority, but a change to the status of the state as an " independent democratic republic " must be endorsed by a three-quarters majority in a referendum.

However, president Charles de Gaulle bypassed the legislative procedure in 1962 and directly sent a constitutional amendment to a referendum ( article 11 ), which was adopted.

Some bills are enacted without a " safety clause " which makes it possible to petition to subject those bills to a referendum before they take effect, and have an effective date in August following the legislative session unless otherwise provided.

`` Do you feel you can stand up to the next legislative session and defend this contract ''??

First, common law courts are not absolutely bound by precedent, but can ( when extraordinarily good reason is shown ) reinterpret and revise the law, without legislative intervention, to adapt to new trends in political, legal and social philosophy.

A monetary authority is created and supported by its sponsoring government, so independence can be reduced by the legislative or executive authority that creates it.

However, if any democracy is not structured so as to prohibit the government from excluding the people from the legislative process, or any branch of government from altering the separation of powers in its own favor, then a branch of the system can accumulate too much power and destroy the democracy.

The DSM-IV-TR states, because it is produced for the completion of federal legislative mandates, its use by people without clinical training can lead to inappropriate application of its contents.

A recall election is usually initiated by voters and can be based on " political charges ", for example mismanagement, whereas impeachment is initiated by a constitutional body ( usually a legislative body ) and is usually, but not always, based on an indictable offense.

At a regional level, groups of states can create political and legal bodies with sometimes complicated patchworks of overlapping provisions detailing the jurisdictional relationships between the member states and providing for some degree of harmonization between their national legislative and judicial functions, for example, the European Union and African Union both have the potential to become federated states although the political barriers to such unification in the face of entrenched nationalism will be very difficult to overcome.

Although legislative votes are recorded and are available to the American public, legislators can exchange their votes on issues they do not care much about for votes on other issues that are more important to their personal agendas ( Holcombe 2006 ).

In the General Possibility Theorem, Kenneth Arrow argues that if a legislative consensus can be reached through a simple majority, then minimum conditions must be satisfied, and these conditions must provide a superior ranking to any subset of alternative votes ( Arrow 1963 ).

If it be accepted, as can hardly be denied, that the answers of the judges to the questions asked by the House of Lords in 1843 are to be read in the light of the then existing case-law and not as novel pronouncements of a legislative character, then the High Court's analysis in Stapleton's Case is compelling.

The president can further influence the legislative branch through constitutionally mandated, periodic reports to Congress.

He determines the Commission's policy agenda and all the legislative proposals it produces ( the Commission is the only body that can propose EU laws ).

* Executive: The President is the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto legislative bills before they become law, and appoints the Cabinet and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.

There is also a 150-member Consultative Assembly, appointed by the King, which can propose legislation to the King but has no legislative powers itself.

There is no organization, person, or institution which can interfere in the running of the courts, and the executive and legislative structures must obey the courts ' decisions.

Each voter can cast a single vote for any candidate within any given legislative district, but the candidate with the most votes wins the seat, although variants, such as requiring a majority, are sometimes used.

While electoral results do not necessarily translate into legislative seats, the Liberal Democrats can exert influence if there is a situation such as a hung parliament.

Administrative tribunals are legislative creations and they can only exist and function within the limits that are imposed by law.

In this system, voters have a single vote, which they can cast for a single candidate in their district, in which only one legislative seat is available.

In addition to the NPC, the provincial people ’ s congresses possesses legislative power and can pass laws so long as they do not contravene the Constitution or higher legislation or administrative regulations.

Before signing a bill into law, the President can also ask the Constitutional Tribunal to verify its compliance with the Constitution, which in practice bears a decisive influence on the legislative process.

In order to garner legislative support in the Bundestag, the chancellor can also call for a regular Motion of Confidence, either combined with a legislative proposal or as a standalone vote.

The Council is seen as the guardian of legislative quality ; no minister can ignore its opinion without dire effects on his own reputation.