ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of the total number of ethno-national referendums since the French Revolution to the present day. After establishing a typology of referendums, the chapter presents the trends in their use from the beginning of the eighteenth century to the present day. It is possible to trace the ethno-national referendum back to ancient times such as ancient Greece and the German tribes, but these votes were not like present-day referendums on sovereignty. Nationalism and self-determination went hand in hand, and this was resolved through referendums. E. H. Carr, the British historian and theorist of international relations, observed correctly that Self-determination and democracy went hand in hand. History has moved a great deal since the age of Napoleon, but the idea that nations have a right at least in principle to determine their own affairs has become an unquestionable doctrine in international politics.
