Plebiscite, << PLEHB uh syt, >> is a vote of the people on any question. But the term has come to mean the vote of inhabitants in a territory to choose the nation that will govern them. The plebiscite was first used during the 1790’s when the citizens of Nice and Savoy voted for or against union with France.
Modern plebiscites are almost always under international supervision. In 1975, for example, the United Nations (UN) sent observers to witness a plebiscite in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands were governed by the United States as part of a UN trust territory. In the plebiscite, the people voted to become a commonwealth of the United States. Plebiscites also decided the status of the Saar (the German state of Saarland) in Europe and British Togoland (part of present-day Ghana) in Africa.
Plebiscites are intended to give territories freedom of choice, but interested nations sometimes try to influence the vote by military pressure. In any case, plebiscites have marked a long step forward in permitting people of certain territories some freedom in choosing their form of government.
