arguments for and against a referendum
ARGUMENTS FOR
Referendums provide a useful and potentially significant vehicle for increased direct political participation – helping to strengthen democracy. Voter turnout in general elections, local and european elections has been in decline for some time. Some people argue that referendums will help to create the sense of a participatory democracy - giving people real power and influence on important social and political issues
Referendums help to mobilise consent on contentious issues
They normally provide clear (decisive) answers to specific issues or questions which may be best settled outside of the Parliamentary (Westminster) arena
They are potentially a powerful check on the power on elected governments
Referendum campaigns serve to inform and educate the electorate on specific issues
The technology is now in place for widespread use of national and local referendums
May serve to revitalise local government and democracy - several councils are experimenting with the use of local referendums on issues such as education policy
ARGUMENTS AGAINST
No established mechanism for triggering a referendum in the UK
Referendums can undermine Parliamentary Sovereignty - ie the right of parliament to make and remake any law and not be bound by their successors.
Allows politicians to absolve themselves of responsibility for making difficult decisions
Governments unlikely to hold them unless they are fairly confident they will win the vote - the obvious example of this is the likelehood of a referendum on the Single European Currency
Governments are unlikely to be neutral participants and the phrasing of the question(s) can distort the results
Inevitably, there would be unbalanced resources for groups on opposite sides of the debate – how are referendums funded?
Complex and difficult issues can become oversimplified and the electorate may suffer from fundamental problem of lack of information – result may reflect “snapshot” of opinions that can change over time
Media and other agencies can significantly influence the result
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