Local Option

Local Option

Local Option is a term used to describe the freedom whereby local political jurisdictions, typically counties or municipalities, can decide by popular vote certain controversial issues within their borders. In practice, it usually relates to the issue of alcoholic beverage sales. As described by an encyclopedia in 1907, local option is the "license granted to the inhabitants of a district to extinguish or reduce the sale of intoxicants in their midst." while a 1911 encyclopedia describes it as "specifically used in politics of the power given to the electorate of a particular district to choose whether licences for the sale of intoxicating liquor should be granted or not. This form of "local option" has been also and more rightly termed "local veto."

Local option regarding alcohol was first used in the temperance movement as a means to bring about prohibition gradually. The Anti-Saloon League initially decided to use local option as the mechanism to bring about nation-wide prohibition. Its intent was to work across the country at the local level. In many instances, however, this was not the agenda. Several wards in Ontario passed local option but were vehemently against province-wide prohibition, preferring to isolate alcohol sales rather than ban them altogether. This is particularly evident in The Junction, which remained notoriously dry as late as 1997, the last part of Toronto to do so; one of the first bars to open in the Junction now refers to itself jokingly as "the local option," twisting the phrase to mean the neighbourhood choice of bar.

Following the repeal of national Prohibition in the United States in 1933, some states chose to maintain prohibition within their own borders and some chose to permit local option on the controversial issue. In the remainder of states, there was no prohibition. Overlying this patchwork of prohibition, many states (known as alcoholic beverage control state) decided to establish their own monopolies over the wholesaling and/or retailing of alcoholic beverages. Montgomery County, Maryland, for example, has used local option to establish its alcohol control monopoly within its borders.

ee also

*Dry county

References

*"Rednecks, Redeemers, and Race: Mississippi After Reconstruction, 1877-1917", Stephen Edward Cresswell. p 104 - 105
*Nuttall
*1911


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Local option — Option Op tion, n. [L. optio; akin to optare to choose, wish, optimus best, and perh. to E. apt: cf. F. option.] 1. The power of choosing; the right of choice or election; an alternative. [1913 Webster] There is an option left to the United… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Local option — Local Lo cal (l[=o] kal), a. [L. localis, fr. locus place: cf. F. local. See {Lieu}, {Locus}.] Of or pertaining to a particular place, or to a definite region or portion of space; restricted to one place or region; as, a local custom. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • local option — n. the right of determining by a vote of the residents whether something, as the sale of intoxicating liquors, shall be permitted in their locality …   English World dictionary

  • local option — An option of self determination available to a municipality or other governmental unit to determine a particular course of action without specific approval from state officials. Local option is often used in local elections to determine whether… …   Black's law dictionary

  • local option — An option of self determination available to a municipality or other governmental unit to determine a particular course of action without specific approval from state officials. Local option is often used in local elections to determine whether… …   Black's law dictionary

  • Local Option Sales Tax — In the United States, a Local Option Sales Tax (often abbreviated LOST) is a special purpose tax implemented and levied at the city or county level. A local option sales tax is often used as a means of raising funds for specific local or area… …   Wikipedia

  • local option election — An election in a county, township, or other political subdivision through which the right of local option is exercised. 30 Am J Rev ed Intox L § 89. See local option …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • local option — noun Date: 1878 the power granted by a legislature to a political subdivision to determine by popular vote the local applicability of a law on a controversial issue (as the sale of liquor) …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • local option — noun a choice available to a local administration to accept or reject national legislation …   English new terms dictionary

  • local option — noun freedom of a local government to determine by popular vote the applicability of a controversial law in their jurisdiction (Freq. 1) • Hypernyms: ↑self government, ↑self determination, ↑self rule …   Useful english dictionary

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