This article considers the debates generated by referendum proposals during the constitutional crisis from 1909 to 1914. None of those proposals were adopted and they have received little attention from historians but they were not without significance. Some Conservatives saw the referendum as a way of democratically protecting the right of the house of lords to veto legislation passed by the house of commons, while others regarded the referendum process as a means by which single issues could be more effectively dealt with than at multi-topic general elections. The debates also revealed many practical problems inherent in the various referendum schemes. They were ignored in the 21st century, when Conservative governments adopted referendums as a mechanism for overcoming internal party divisions.

中文翻译：

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公投问题与爱德华时代的宪法危机

本文探讨了1909年至1914年宪政危机期间公投提案引发的争论。这些提案均未获得通过，也很少受到历史学家的关注，但它们并非没有意义。一些保守党人士将公投视为民主地保护上议院否决下议院通过的立法的权利的一种方式，而另一些人则认为公投过程是一种比多个问题更有效地处理单一问题的手段。 -主题大选。辩论还揭示了各种公投方案固有的许多实际问题。在 21 世纪，当保守党政府采用公投作为克服党内分歧的机制时，它们被忽视了。