(plural referendums or [formal] referenda), [formal] plebiscite [noun] [C] - a vote in which all the people in a country or an area are asked to give their opinion about or decide an important (political) questionIs it more truly democratic to hold a referendum, rather than let the government alone decide an important issue?
REFERENDUM
Meaning of REFERENDUM in English
Cambridge English vocab. Кембриджский английский словарь. 2012