WELLINGTON, New Zealand — While conservative populism is now ascendant in some of the world’s leading democracies, New Zealand is rushing in the opposite direction, taking on several liberal social issues all at once.

Next year, the country will hold public referendums to decide whether to legalize assisted suicide and recreational marijuana. Separately, lawmakers are considering a bill that would decriminalize abortion.

Those votes will come after New Zealand’s Parliament voted 119 to 1 this month to enshrine in law an ambitious set of targets to reduce the country’s carbon emissions.

This burst of democratic action is in contrast to the legislative gridlock that has gripped countries like the United States and Britain. But it also threatens to push a generally conflict-averse New Zealand into uncomfortable territory, and it could overwhelm an election next year that will determine whether Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern remains in office.