DURING the election campaign we heard proposals for various referendums - some genuine like that of Sir James Goldsmith on Europe; others calculated to mislead like those of the major parties on the single currency.

A referendum is the political institution by which treaties and laws are submitted to a vote by the people before they become part of the statute book.

The referendum is, or should be, directly linked to another political process - that of the Initiative. This is the right of petition.

If a specified number of people exercise this right, they are entitled by law to compel their elected representatives to grant them a referendum on the chosen subject. This is the practice in the United States and amounts to direct legislation by the people.

Together the Initiative and the referendum represent the most advanced form of genuine democracy, rather than mere parliamentary democracy.

The latter suffers from a fatal flaw. Once elected, the people lose all control over their representatives.

As an example, consider the death penalty. A referendum would show clearly that the majority of people desire the return of this real deterrent. Yet the annual parliamentary debates on the subject are a foregone conclusion - rejection.

We should follow the example of the USA and include the Initiative and the referendum in our constitution.

TOM HOWARTH, Fowler Height Close, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.