Against Referendums

Against Referendums

1. Ill-informed decisions

   • By comparison with elected politicians, the general public is ill-informed, poorly educated and lacks political experience.
     • The public's interests are therefore best safeguarded by a system of 'government by politicians' rather than any form of popular self-government.

2. Weakens Parliament

   • The use of referendums does not strengthen democracy; rather, at best, it substitutes direct democracy for parliamentary democracy.
     • This not only undermines the vital principle of parliamentary sovereignty, but also means that decisions are not made on the basis of careful deliberation and debate.

3. Irresponsible government

   • Referendums allow governments to absolve themselves of responsibility by handing decisions over to the electorate.
     • As governments are elected to govern, they should both make policy decisions and be made publicly accountable for their decisions.

4. Strengthens government

   • Referendums may extend government power in a variety of ways .
     • Not only do governments decide whether, when and over what issues to call referendums, they also frame the question asked ('yes' respsonses are usually preferred to 'no' responses) and can also dominate the publicity campaign.
       • However, such matters are now 'policed' by the electoral campaign.

5. Unreliable views

   • Referendums provide only a snapshot of public opinion at one point in time.
     • They are therefore an unreliable guide to the public intererst.
       • This also makes them particularly inappropriate for making or endorsing constitutional decisions, as these have long-term and far-reaching implications. E.g. Brexit