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80-624: In November 2014, a referendum on formally adopting the Tennessee Plan as an amendment to the Tennessee Constitution , clarifying its status, was held, and the plan's provisions were formally added to the Constitution. That constitutional amendment modified the previous statutory system in that the governor can now select his own nominees to the courts without the input from a commission, and that nominees must be confirmed or disapproved by

160-537: A preferendum when the choices given allow the voters to weight their support for a policy. In Switzerland , for example, multiple choice referendums are common. Two multiple choice referendums were held in Sweden , in 1957 and in 1980, in which voters were offered three options. In 1977, a referendum held in Australia to determine a new national anthem was held, in which voters had four choices. In 1992, New Zealand held

240-523: A modern state in 1848 . Italy ranks second with 78 national referendums : 72 popular referendums (51 of which were proposed by the Radical Party ), 4 constitutional referendums, one institutional referendum and one advisory referendum . A referendum usually offers the electorate a straight choice between accepting or rejecting a proposal. However some referendums give voters multiple choices, and some use transferable voting. This has also been called

320-569: A sharecropper , and Lucille (Smith) McWherter. He grew up in the Little Zion community near Palmersville, where he attended a one-room schoolhouse. In the early 1940s, his family moved to Ypsilanti, Michigan , where his father worked in wartime factories. In May 1945, the family moved to Dresden, Tennessee , where McWherter's parents purchased the City Cafe, which they would operate for several years. McWherter attended Dresden High School, where he

400-432: A 'referendum' is often said to be a vote to change the federal constitution and 'plebiscite' a vote which does not affect the federal constitution. However, this is erroneous as not all federal referendums have been on constitutional matters (such as the 1916 Australian conscription referendum ), and state votes that likewise do not affect either the federal or state constitution are frequently said to be referendums (such as

480-523: A Latin gerund, referendum has no plural). The Latin plural gerundive 'referenda', meaning 'things to be referred', necessarily connotes a plurality of issues. It is closely related to agenda , "those matters which must be driven forward", from ago , to impel or drive forwards; and memorandum , "that matter which must be remembered", from memoro , to call to mind, corrigenda , from rego , to rule, make straight, those things which must be made straight (corrected), etc. The term 'plebiscite' has

560-495: A Latin word and attempting to apply to it the rules of Latin grammar) is unsupportable according to the rules of both Latin and English grammar. The use of "referenda" as a plural form is posited hypothetically as either a gerund or a gerundive by the Oxford English Dictionary , which rules out such usage in both cases as follows: Referendums is logically preferable as a plural form meaning 'ballots on one issue' (as

640-411: A five-option referendum on their electoral system. In 1982, Guam had a referendum that used six options, with an additional blank option for those wishing to (campaign and) vote for their own seventh option. A multiple choice referendum poses the question of how the result is to be determined. They may be set up so that if no single option receives the support of an absolute majority (more than half) of

720-572: 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. In Australia,

800-704: A hotel in Nashville that sold liquor, and noted that Pilot , a convenience store chain owned by Dunn's campaign treasurer, Jim Haslam , was one of the state's largest beer retailers. Dunn also failed to pick up a critical endorsement from East Tennessee congressman Jimmy Quillen , who was still bitter over Dunn's veto of the ETSU medical school bill. McWherter ran a strong statewide campaign, visiting and organizing in all 95 counties. On election day, he defeated Dunn, 656,602 votes to 553,449. During his first term, McWherter insisted that all formal governmental proceedings be open to

880-475: A judge. The Judicial Nominating Commission was composed of 17 unelected members, with explicit requirements that the majority be lawyers. Once chosen by the governor, the judge took his/her seat. At the first statewide general election following his or her appointment, the person's name is placed before the public on the ballot on a simple yes-no basis, e.g., "Shall Jon R. Smith be elected and retained as Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, for Middle Tennessee?" If

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960-532: A majority of voters decides this question in the negative, the process outlined above starts over. Every eight years (1998, 2006, 2014, 2022, et seq. ), all members of all of the state appellate courts are subjected to this process as well. All judges are elected statewide, not just in the Grand Division from which they are appointed. In 2006, all judges submitted for approval received an affirmative vote of at least 70 pepercent. Until its dissolution in 2014,

1040-409: A motivated minority of voters. Referendums may require a turnout threshold (also called a participation quorum) in order for the referendum to be considered legally valid. In a participation quorum a majority of those voting must approve of the referendum, and a certain percentage of population must have voted in order for the results to be approved. The usage of participation quorums in referendums

1120-649: A mountainous area before emptying into the French Broad River in East Tennessee. East Tennessee residents and environmentalists charged that toxins dumped into the river by the Champion Paper Mill in Canton, North Carolina , damaged the river's economic potential and had led to an unusually high rate of cancer in lower Pigeon Valley communities. Canton residents argued that the town was economically dependent on

1200-483: A particular Grand Division . If the governor rejected the entire panel, the commission had to submit another panel. When this occurred, the governor was compelled to choose a nominee from the second panel. No one who was on a rejected panel of nominees can be on the second panel. This process effectively guaranteed that one of six of the nominees chosen by the 17 members of the Nominating Commission must become

1280-409: A referendum are more likely to be driven by transient whims than by careful deliberation, or that they are not sufficiently informed to make decisions on complicated or technical issues. Also, voters might be swayed by propaganda , strong personalities, intimidation, and expensive advertising campaigns. James Madison argued that direct democracy is the " tyranny of the majority ". Some opposition to

1360-473: A referendum. Therefore avoid referendums. Therefore don't raise questions which require them, such as the big versus the little states. Some critics of the referendum attack the use of closed questions. A difficulty called the separability problem can plague a referendum on two or more issues. If one issue is in fact, or in perception, related to another on the ballot, the imposed simultaneous voting of first preference on each issue can result in an outcome which

1440-524: A separate vote on each of the multiple options as well as an additional decision about which of the multiple options should be preferred. In the Swedish case, in both referendums the 'winning' option was chosen by the Single Member Plurality ("first past the post") system. In other words, the winning option was deemed to be that supported by a plurality , rather than an absolute majority, of voters. In

1520-603: A third term if he had been permitted to run for one by the state constitution ; when asked about this, he stated that he would not have run for another term even if it had been permissible. Following the end of his second term as governor in 1995, McWherter was appointed to the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service by President Bill Clinton . McWherter lived the remainder of his life in Tennessee, where he

1600-532: A vacancy occurred, the Judicial Nominating Commission accepted applications from any qualified Tennessee lawyer. Typical qualifications include age, residency, and proper professional standing. The commission then chose three nominees from the applications received. The commission submitted these three nominees—altogether called a panel—to the governor of Tennessee. Residency qualifications included not only state citizenship but also citizenship within

1680-454: Is "fit for" doing. Its use as a noun in English is not considered a strictly grammatical usage of a foreign word but is rather a newly coined English noun, which follows English grammatical usage, not Latin grammatical usage. This determines the form of the plural in English, which according to English grammar should be "referendums". The use of "referenda" as a plural form in English (treating it as

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1760-465: Is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives ) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy ) or advisory (functioning like a large-scale opinion poll ). 'Referendum' is the gerundive form of the Latin verb referre , literally "to carry back" (from the verb ferre , "to bear, bring, carry" plus

1840-508: Is a class of referendum required to be voted on if certain conditions are met or for certain government actions to be taken. They do not require any signatures from the public. In areas that use referendums a mandatory referendum is commonly used as a legally required step for ratification for constitutional changes, ratifying international treaties and joining international organizations, and certain types of public spending. Typical types of mandatory referendums include: An optional referendum

1920-408: Is a class of referendums that is put to the vote as a result of a demand. This may come from the executive branch, legislative branch, or a request from the people (often after meeting a signature requirement). Types of optional referendums include: From a political-philosophical perspective, referendums are an expression of direct democracy , but today, most referendums need to be understood within

2000-463: Is argued as the reason why, since World War II , there has been no provision in Germany for the holding of referendums at the federal level. In recent years, referendums have been used strategically by several European governments trying to pursue political and electoral goals. In 1995, John Bruton considered that All governments are unpopular. Given the chance, people would vote against them in

2080-568: Is buried in Sunset Cemetery in Dresden. McWherter married Bette Jean (Beck) McWherter in 1953. She died of cancer in 1973. His son Michael Ray McWherter is a businessman and former candidate for governor, and his daughter Linda Ramsey is a doctor of physical education at the University of Tennessee at Martin . McWherter funded the construction of the library at the University of Memphis and

2160-463: Is controversial, as higher requirements have been shown to reduced turnout and voter participation. With high participation quorums, the opposition of a referendum has an interest in abstaining from the vote instead of participating, in order to invalidate the referendum results through low turnout. This is a form of the no-show paradox . All others who are not voting for other reasons, including those with no opinion, are effectively also voting against

2240-648: Is displeasing to most. Several commentators have noted that the use of citizens' initiatives to amend constitutions has so tied the government to a jumble of popular demands as to render the government unworkable. A 2009 article in The Economist argued that this had restricted the ability of the California state government to tax the people and pass the budget, and called for an entirely new Californian constitution. A similar problem also arises when elected governments accumulate excessive debts. That can severely reduce

2320-510: Is reauthorized. The Judicial Selection Commission was sunseted as of June 30, 2013; however, a new 17-member body consisting of many of the members of the former commission, but several new appointees, assists Governor Bill Haslam in appointing persons to judicial vacancies until an amendment to the state Constitution specifically authorizing the Tennessee Plan was voted on in the November 2014 general election . As of January 2015, opponents of

2400-416: The 2009 Western Australian daylight saving referendum ). Historically, they are used by Australians interchangeably and a plebiscite was considered another name for a referendum. In Ireland, 'plebiscite' referred to the vote to adopt its constitution, but a subsequent vote to amend the constitution is called a 'referendum', as is a poll of the electorate on a non-constitutional bill. The name and use of

2480-551: The FBI and state lawmakers feared more illicit pardons would be issued in his final days in office. To prevent this, McWherter and Lieutenant Governor John S. Wilder engineered a constitutional maneuver that allowed the governor-elect, Lamar Alexander , to be sworn in three days early. During the 1980s, McWherter worked with the Alexander administration on a number of issues, including foreign investment and education. McWherter's support

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2560-460: The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UT Health and Sciences Center), which was in Dunn's hometown. Dunn vetoed the bill, creating the medical school. House Speaker Ned McWherter , D-Dresden, and Rep. Palma Robinson , R-Jonesborough, agreed to swap votes with McWherter providing some Democratic votes to override the medical school veto and Robinson providing some Republican votes to override

2640-524: The 'referendum' is thought to have originated in the Swiss canton of Graubünden as early as the 16th century. After a reduction in the number of referendums in the Mid-twentieth century, the referendum as a political tool has been increasing in popularity since the 1970s. This increase has been attributed to dealignment of the public with political parties, as specific policy issues became more important to

2720-424: The 12-member Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission reviewed the record of incumbent judges and published its findings approximately six weeks before the retention elections. This report gave the panel's rationale for its recommendations based on the public record of each of the judges and a public interview process in which potential areas for improvement were noted. The report summarized these findings and noted

2800-564: The 1977 Australian referendum, the winner was chosen by the system of preferential instant-runoff voting (IRV). Polls in Newfoundland (1949) and Guam (1982), for example, were counted under a form of the two-round system , and an unusual form of TRS was used in the 1992 New Zealand poll. Although California has not held multiple-choice referendums in the Swiss or Swedish sense (in which only one of several counter-propositions can be victorious, and

2880-469: The General Assembly, which must vote whether to do so within 60 days of the nominee's selection if it is in session, and within 60 days of the convening of the next session if it is not in session at the time of the appointment, and if no vote is taken within this deadline, the nominees are considered to have been confirmed by default. Until the ratification of the constitutional amendment in 2014, when

2960-498: The House, but a Republican governor, Winfield Dunn , had been elected. To counter Dunn, Democrats chose fiery Nashville attorney James McKinney as Speaker of the House. McKinney vehemently opposed Dunn's initiatives and refused to consider most of his legislation. At the beginning of McWherter's third term (1973–1975), Democratic legislators, who controlled the House by a slim 50–49 margin, were concerned that McKinney's stubbornness

3040-732: The Martin Shoe Company as a salesman. When the company's line of sandals struggled against competition from cheaper Japanese imports, McWherter travelled throughout the Caribbean and Central America in an attempt to find retailers, eventually finding a market for the sandals in Puerto Rico . In 1964, McWherter founded Volunteer Distributing to distribute Anheuser-Busch beer in the Weakley area. Two years later, he opened Dresden's first nursing home. McWherter served for 21 years (1947–1968) in

3120-559: The Senate. The Senate has thirty (30) days within which to choose one of the candidates. If the Senate does not decide within that period, the President chooses one of the nominees. If the Senate rejects all three nominees, the President is required to submit a new list of three. If the Senate rejects the second list, the President chooses one of the nominees on the second list. Referendum A referendum , plebiscite , or ballot measure

3200-469: The Supreme Court again, provide more evaluation of incumbent justices, and provide more information to voters in advance of retention elections. The Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission was created to review and rate the performance of individual judges and publish that information. This became known as the Tennessee Plan. Under the Tennessee Plan, one judge (State Supreme Court Justice Penny White )

3280-632: The Supreme Court bill veto. The deal went down just as planned, creating what is now known as the James Quillen School of Medicine at ETSU, and removed the Supreme Court from the Modified Missouri Plan. In 1978, a judiciary amendment proposed by a limited constitutional convention whthatad met the previous fall was defeated in a statewide special election at which only a series of proposed constitutional amendments were considered. It would have, among other provisions, largely formalized

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3360-581: The Tennessee National Guard before retiring with the rank of captain . He was a member of the United Methodist Church . McWherter became actively involved in politics in the late 1950s, when he worked for the successful campaign of 8th district congressional candidate, Robert "Fats" Everett . In 1968, Doug Murphy, the Mayor of Martin , convinced him to run for Weakley County's seat in

3440-467: The Tennessee House of Representatives. McWherter won the seat without opposition. He was reelected to the seat eight times, usually running unopposed. McWherter entered the House of Representatives at a turbulent time in state politics. During his first term, Republicans controlled the House for the first time in several decades. During his second (1971–1973), Democrats regained control of

3520-419: The Tennessee Plan were still fighting it in the courts. Their complaint centers around the wording of the ballot question in the 2014 referendum, and the fact that the other constitutional amendments on the ballot which involved changing constitutional language were worded in a way which showed both the language proposed for replacement and the proposed replacement language while the judicial amendment showed only

3600-405: The adoption of the Modified Missouri Plan. The other amendments under consideration at the time were primarily of a technical nature, serving mostly to remove obsolete language, such as clauses forbidding interracial marriage and requiring public school segregation , which had long been rendered totally invalid by prior federal judicial decisions, and all were approved by large majorities. Only

3680-479: The beginning of his second, recommending a state income tax be implemented. An income tax has long been considered the third rail of Tennessee politics. McWherter gave the idea lukewarm support at first, but the idea was eventually dropped entirely, not to resurface again during his time as governor. In 1990, McWherter was invited to speak at a chapel service at Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tennessee at

3760-866: The board of governors, Council of State Governments , the Executive Committees of the Southern Conference, the Weakley County Head Start Program , and the Executive Committee of the Northwest Tennessee Economic Development District. In the late 1980s, a showdown erupted between Tennessee and North Carolina over the pollution of the Pigeon River , which rises in North Carolina and traverses

3840-710: The cameraman, "don't mind him, he's a nobody." Years later, when President Ronald Reagan was scheduled to appear before the Tennessee General Assembly, McWherter removed Donaldson's name from the media credentials list. When Donaldson showed up at the state capitol , he was denied admission by the House sergeant-at-arms. After issuing a string of profanities, Donaldson stormed out of the building and returned to Washington. In January 1979, outgoing Governor Ray Blanton issued pardons to over 50 state inmates, including several convicted murderers. His administration had been under investigation for selling pardons, and

3920-479: The context of representative democracy . They tend to be used quite selectively, covering issues such as changes in voting systems, where currently elected officials may not have the legitimacy or inclination to implement such changes. Since the end of the 18th century, hundreds of national referendums have been organised in the world; almost 600 national votes have been held in Switzerland since its inauguration as

4000-458: The eastern part of the state, McWherter was able to gain the support of Republican Congressman James H. Quillen to pick up a majority of votes in the state's First Congressional District. In 1976, McWherter supported Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter . At a Carter campaign event in Memphis, McWherter expressed irritation with an ABC cameraman, prompting reporter Sam Donaldson to tell

4080-519: The effective margin for later governments. Both these problems can be moderated by a combination of other measures as Referendums occur occasionally rather than periodically as elections are and they don’t offer the same kind of formal opposition. Because referendums affect for a longer term than legislative deliberation, a turnout and supermajority requirement is necessary to maintain principles of majoritarianism. In republic polities, referendums could be used to bypass legislatures and representatives by

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4160-450: The executive body. Zurcher argues that the use of the Nazi referendums was ending turnout requirements to advance intrinsic advantages in an otherwise slower and more demanding manner to constitutional and policy changes. https://ballotpedia.org/List_of_ballot_measures_by_year From 1777 inclusively Ned McWherter Ned Ray McWherter (October 15, 1930 – April 4, 2011)

4240-484: The inseparable prefix re- , here meaning "back" ). As a gerundive is an adjective , not a noun , it cannot be used alone in Latin, and must be contained within a context attached to a noun such as Propositum quod referendum est populo , "A proposal which must be carried back to the people". The addition of the verb sum (3rd person singular, est ) to a gerundive, denotes the idea of necessity or compulsion, that which "must" be done, rather than that which

4320-433: The judiciary amendment would have made a major, substantive change, and it was rejected by a large majority, which failed to provide any closure on the issue. From 1974 until 1994, justices of the Supreme Court stood for partisan election, but they were nominated by the executive committees of their respective parties rather than in primary elections as was the case for other state officials standing for election. Reflecting

4400-682: The losing proposals are wholly null and void), it does have so many yes-or-no referendums at each election day that conflicts arise. The State's constitution provides a method for resolving conflicts when two or more inconsistent propositions are passed on the same day. This is a de facto form of approval voting —i.e. the proposition with the most "yes" votes prevails over the others to the extent of any conflict. Other voting systems that could be used in multiple-choice referendum are Condorcet method and quadratic voting (including quadratic funding ). Quorums are typically introduced to prevent referendum results from being skewed by low turnout or decided by

4480-578: The mill, which employed 2,000 workers. When the Environmental Protection Agency ordered Champion to upgrade the plant to meet Tennessee's water quality standards, the company threatened to close the plant and lay off all 2,000 workers. East Tennessee residents held demonstrations, and asked that Governor McWherter not renew the plant's water quality variance. Legislators from both states traded barbs, cars with Tennessee license plates were vandalized in North Carolina, and McWherter's office

4560-460: The partisan balance of the state at the time, Democrats won every election for the Supreme Court in this time frame, often without Republican opposition. The Modified Missouri Plan continued to apply to the two intermediate appellate courts. During the 20 years of the Modified Missouri Plan, no judges were removed from office by the voters. In 1994, the Legislature overhauled the process to include

4640-503: The process violated the Tennessee State Constitution in that the yes-no balloting it calls for does not truly constitute an " election " in the sense intended by the document's framers. This question was adjudicated by a special Supreme Court in a case filed by political gadfly John Jay Hooker . The regular members of the Supreme Court recused themselves from the case as interested parties since they had been selected under

4720-562: The proposed new language without showing the language calling for the election of the judges of the Supreme Court and intermediate appeallate courts which was being proposed for deletion. The appointment-by-default procedure is similar to the system used in Mexico . There, for the appointment of a Justice of the Supreme Court of Mexico , the President of Mexico submits a list of three candidates to

4800-523: The provisions in question. The special court found the process to be fully compliant with applicable provisions of the state constitution.) However, the General Assembly chose to terminate the selection commission under provisions of the Tennessee Sunset Law, which causes the existence of most state agencies to end automatically after a specific period of years unless their continued existence

4880-555: The public and press, thus implementing the spirit, as well as the letter, of the "sunshine law" he had helped to author and sponsor while a member of the House. His "21st century Schools" education reform program launched similar programs in other states and his replacement of the Medicaid program with the TennCare system gained national attention. As governor, he also served nationally and locally on various councils and committees, including

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4960-458: The public than party identifiers. The term "referendum" covers a variety of different meanings, and the terminology is different depending on the us that holds them. A referendum can be binding or advisory. In some countries, different names are used for these two types of referendum. Referendums can be further classified by who initiates them. David Altman proposes four dimensions that referendums can be classified by: A mandatory referendum

5040-410: The race, and defeated Public Service Commissioner Jane Eskind and Nashville mayor Richard Fulton for the nomination, winning 42% of the vote to 29% for Eskind, and 26% for Fulton. With Alexander term-limited, Republicans nominated former Governor Winfield Dunn. Dunn's campaign tried to portray McWherter as a West Tennessee beer salesman, though McWherter pointed out that Dunn was a co-owner of

5120-522: The referendum has arisen from its use by dictators such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini who, it is argued, used the plebiscite to disguise oppressive policies as populism . Dictators may also make use of referendums as well as show elections to further legitimize their authority such as António de Oliveira Salazar in 1933 ; Benito Mussolini in 1934 ; Adolf Hitler in 1934 , 1936 ; Francisco Franco in 1947 ; Park Chung Hee in 1972 ; and Ferdinand Marcos in 1973 . Hitler's use of plebiscites

5200-853: The referendum to take place. In one such challenge, in 2017, the Spanish Constitutional Court suspended the Catalonia 's independence referendum . In post-referendum disputes, they challenge the result. British courts dismissed post-referendum challenges of the Brexit referendum. International tribunals have traditionally not interfered with referendum disputes. In 2021, the European Court of Human Rights extended its jurisdiction to referendums in its judgment Toplak and Mrak v. Slovenia , initiated by two disabled voters over polling place access . In Political Governance states that voters in

5280-499: The referendum. In the 2005 Italian fertility laws referendum , opposition to the proposed loosening of laws on research on embryos and on allowing in-vitro fertilization , campaigned for people to abstain from voting to drive down turnout. Although a majority of people voted yes for the changes in the law, the results were invalid because participation was low. Important referendums are frequently challenged in courts. In pre-referendum disputes, plaintiffs have often tried to prevent

5360-447: The request of his lifelong friend, E. Claude Gardner, then president of the university. In 1992, Senator Al Gore was elected vice president, thus creating a vacancy in the Senate. McWherter appointed his deputy governor, Harlan Matthews , to serve as U.S. Senator until the 1994 election. In 1994, McWherter was named the nation's most outstanding governor by Governing magazine. McWherter would have been an overwhelming favorite for

5440-525: The review panel at this time was unable to serve. The General Assembly adopted the Modified Missouri Plan in 1971 to apply to judges of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Court of Criminal Appeals. Two years later, the Democratic majority in the Legislature was alarmed that Republican Governor Winfield Dunn was going to be able to appoint all five Supreme Court justices when their eight-year terms expired in 1974, meaning that they would subsequently face

5520-532: The state's needs. This sparked cries of favoritism from East Tennesseans (Dunn was from Memphis). After the state senate voted to override the veto, McWherter, brushing off a threat from former Memphis mayor Henry Loeb , led the House in overriding the veto, allowing the bill to become law. When Dunn ran for another term as governor in 1986, his lack of support for the medical school in Johnson City came back to haunt him. Despite an overwhelming Republican base in

5600-484: The vote by which judge was recommended (or, theoretically, not recommended) for retention, although not how each individual commissioner voted. This report was published in the state's major metropolitan newspapers; the 2006 report appeared in Sunday papers as a special section. The 2006 report endorsed all of the incumbent judges seeking reelection, most unanimously and none by a margin of less than 8-3; one member appointed to

5680-461: The voters as incumbents . The Legislature passed a bill to exempt the Supreme Court from the Modified Missouri Plan and return it to popular election, but it was vetoed by Governor Dunn. At the same time, Republicans in upper East Tennessee were pressing hard to create a new medical school at East Tennessee State University (ETSU). Dunn, who was from Memphis, opposed the creation of a second state medical school that would compete for resources with

5760-657: The votes, resort can be made to the two-round system or instant-runoff voting , which is also called IRV and PV. In 2018 the Irish Citizens' Assembly considered the conduct of future referendums in Ireland , with 76 of the members in favour of allowing more than two options, and 52% favouring preferential voting in such cases. Other people regard a non-majoritarian methodology like the Modified Borda Count (MBC) as more inclusive and more accurate. Swiss referendums offer

5840-576: Was an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th Governor of Tennessee , from 1987 to 1995. Prior to that, he served as Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1973 to 1987, the longest tenure as Speaker up to that time. He was a member of the Democratic Party . McWherter was born in Palmersville , Weakley County , Tennessee , the son of Harmon Ray McWherter,

5920-416: Was co-captain of the football team and president of the school's Future Farmers of America chapter. After graduating, he attempted to play college football, first at the University of Tennessee at Martin , and then at the University of Memphis , and finally at Murray State , but he suffered a knee injury prior to each season at all three schools. His college athletic career cut short, McWherter joined

6000-421: Was critical in helping Alexander obtain passage of the "Career Ladder" bill, which provided income supplements to the state's top teachers. As the 1986 governor's race approached, Democrats struggled to find a candidate. Neither Bob Clement nor Anna Belle Clement O'Brien was interested in running, and the 1978 nominee, Jake Butcher , was facing bank fraud charges. Sensing an opportunity, McWherter entered

6080-465: Was elected Speaker by a 50–49 margin. One of McWherter's first major issues as Speaker was a 1974 bill that sought to establish a medical school at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City . The bill was popular in East Tennessee, parts of which were struggling with a low doctors-per-capita ratio. Governor Dunn, however, vetoed the bill, arguing the medical school in Memphis was adequate for

6160-599: Was flooded with calls from angry North Carolina residents. Following an unscheduled trip to Canton, where he was confronted by a sheriff who told him he was "trespassing on Champion's River," McWherter announced on Christmas Day, 1988, that he would not renew the plant's water quality variance. McWherter was overwhelmingly re-elected to a second term in 1990 , defeating the Republican nominee, first-term state representative Dwight Henry , 479,990 votes to 288,904. A tax study commission appointed during his first term reported at

6240-480: Was preventing the state from conducting its affairs, and several suggested replacing McKinney with McWherter. In the House Democratic Caucus, McWherter was chosen over McKinney as the party's choice for Speaker by a single vote. Sensing disunity among Democrats, Governor Dunn tried to convince disgruntled McKinney supporters to vote for a Republican in the full House vote, but was unsuccessful, and McWherter

6320-464: Was removed in 1996. She was highly rated by the Evaluation Commission, but her opinion in a death penalty case became controversial, and this was played up by those opposing her reconfirmation. Criticism of the plan centers on the creation of a self-perpetuating system of selection in which the public at large is in effect shut out of meaningful decision-making. Some opponents asserted that

6400-646: Was very active in the Tennessee Democratic Party. In the 2010 gubernatorial race , McWherter's son, Mike , ran against Knoxville mayor Bill Haslam . The 79-year-old McWherter helped his son campaign, and bought a red sports car to ride in campaign parades. Haslam won the election by a landslide. McWherter died on April 4, 2011, at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, where he was being treated for cancer. Former President Clinton delivered remarks at McWherter's memorial service, and numerous other public figures issued statements of condolence. McWherter

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