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do referendums make for more democratic decision-making?
Karten in diesem Stapel (4)
- 1points1. some referendums enhance democracy
2. some referendums are regressive
3. conditions must be set and met - 2first point (3)- A survey by CIVICUS found that in almost 80 countries worldwide, most people felt excluded from political decision-making and want to have a direct say in decisions that affect their lives
- Referendums allow citizens to participate beyond electing representatives. Thus can help to revitalise institutions that are increasingly viewed as exclusionary
- The Irish proposal on abortion submitted for referendum came from a Citizen Assembly formed by randomly selected citizens and intended as a cross-section of Irish society. - 3second point (3)- E.g. 2016 Colombian peace agreement referendum: the “no” vote won with a 0.22% margin on a turnout of 37%. In this case, a minority of the country won (barely) yet makes the decisions for everyone. Just because the decision was “democratically” formed, should this force Colombia to continue enduring the half-century long conflict between the Colombian govt and the FARC?
- Too direct a democracy would be inefficient and does not always lead to a good outcome because it is hard for people to be fully informed about every issue.
- The weakness of Cameron’s referendum-strategy was that he wasn’t doing it as a means of taking forward his strategy for the UK in Europe, but rather that he was using it as a tactic to win support from UKIP and the Tory-right. - 4third point (4)- It could be argued, for instance in the case of Colombia, that not all issues should be subject to direct democracy
- To prevent a minority making decisions on behalf of country, perhaps voting must be made compulsory
- Referendums vary according to their origin: some, like the Irish referendum on abortion, are held because the law requires so in specific circumstances. Others are optional and take place because someone initiates them. Whether the vote is initiated by the political elite or ordinary systems is crucial to making more democratic decision-making
- Must be extremely informative, which is difficult but possible. E.g. in Ireland thousands of activists and volunteers disseminated factually correct information to neighbourhoods to counteract dogma.
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- cambridge Karteikarten am do referendums make for more democratic decision-making?, erstellt von jenny sclater am 27/10/2019.
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- jenny sclater
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