The Swiss face covering ban and the referendum in British politics

How do these two things link together?

Readers of this blog will no doubt be familiar with usual sorts of arguments relating to the use of the referendum. Anyway, I'll start here with a bit of a refresher.

Advantages of using referendums to determine political issues

• It is the most direct, purest form of democracy.
• The fact that the people have made the decision grants it a great deal of legitimacy.
• Referendums are useful in securing the consent of the people for important constitutional and governmental change.
• There is a citizenship issue in that referendums give people the opportunity to participate directly in politics and so may increase their attachment to political institutions.
• They have an educational function, raising citizens’ awareness of issues
• It can help to entrench constitutional change in a system which has an uncodified, flexible constitution.
• Sometimes referendums can solve a problem for government itself when there is a good deal of internal conflict.

Disadvantages of using referendums to determine political issues

• If referendums become too frequent there will be a danger of ‘voter fatigue’, resulting in low turnouts and apathy.
• Referendums may have the effect of undermining respect and authority for elected institutions.
• There is Rousseau’s and John Stuart Mill’s argument that referendums represent the ‘tyranny of the majority’. Minority interest would be swamped by the power of the democratic majority.
• Many issues may be too complex for the average voter to understand. Perhaps these decisions are best left to those who have knowledge and the means to reflect of the various complexities.
• Similarly voters may respond to emotional, rather than rational arguments.
• There is a danger with referendums that voters would be swayed by campaigns of newspapers, notably tabloids, or by wealthy vested interests who can afford to spend large amounts of money on the campaign.
• Similarly voters might make illogical choices in referendums, for example voting for tax cuts which might result in the collapse of public services that they want to see funded.

This brings us on to a recent story.

And readers are probably aware of the vote that took place in Switzerland recently. If not, as The Guardian reports:

‘Switzerland to ban wearing of burqa and niqab in public places

Muslim groups criticise move, which they say will further stigmatise and marginalise their community

Switzerland will follow France, Belgium and Austria after narrowly voting in a referendum to ban women from wearing the burqa or niqab in public spaces.

Just over 51% of Swiss voters cast their ballots in favour of the initiative to ban people from covering their face completely on the street, in shops and restaurants.

Full facial veils will still be allowed to be worn inside places of prayer and for “native customs”, such as carnival.’

See: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/07/switzerland-on-course-to-ban-wearing-of-burqa-and-niqab-in-public-places

This therefore raises important questions about the use of the referendum.

A typical essay question on the British Politics paper, and bit of an old chestnut, is ‘Do you support the use of more referendums in the future?’

Perhaps readers of this blog are big fans of direct democracy full stop. Or it might be that you just like the idea of referendums and not the more general category of direct democracy. Maybe you support referendums but only on constitutional issues (as has been the case in the UK), and you might go further in adding that certain caveats have to being place, like a qualified majority threshold (as was the case with the devolution referendums), or only when it is post legislative. Or you could oppose the whole idea of referendums entirely, because they have dangerous effects?

So you can see it’s quite a subtle debate, and a sophisticated conclusion can be arrived at rather than simply coming down on one side of the answer without any really supporting qualification. And the way referendums have been employed, and to what effect, in different parts of the world certainly puts a different spin on the debate in a UK context.