referendums - direct democracy

Question 1

whats a referendum

Answer 1

direct vote by citizens on a political issue, contrasting to representative democracy, short history in the uk, could show signi as used more regularly now
attlee and thatcher were opposed to them

Question 2

types of referendum

Answer 2

• advisory ref, not legally binding (technically all are advisory (parl sov) but C)
• pre-legislative ref - Scotish indy ref 2014 & eu 2016 before the primary legislation is passed
• post-legislative ref -to confirm whether peole are satisfied with a law > Av ref 2011, the bill had been written+agreed on, ref was the last stage

Question 3

what significant and regional referendums have taken place in the uk

Answer 3

• good friday agreement 1998, regional
• north east assembly ref 2004, regional
• Av 2001, national
• welsh assembly 2011, regional
• scot indy ref 2014, regional
• eu ref 2016 - national

Question 4

why are referendums held - legitimacy

Answer 4

• gain legitimacy on political or constitutional decision, controversial the good friday agreement 1998 confirmed how devolution and power sharing would work in NI. voted for by 71.1% gave legitimacy it wouldnt have had

Question 5

why are referendums held - honour political agreement

Answer 5

agreed by parties as part of a wider agreement > AV referendum 2011, was part of the libdems coalition agreement, as they were supporters of electoral reform - nick clegg - (cleggmania media link)

Question 6

why are referendums held - confirm transfer of power

Answer 6

mostly devolution > welsh 2011 devolution confirmed whether welsh citizens wanted more devolved powers 63% in favor

Question 7

why are referendums held - confirm decision taken by previous government

Answer 7

promise a referendum as a position of opposition to the previous government > EEC referendum 1975 by Wilson Labour, decision of the previous con gov. 67 decided to stay in EEC

Question 8

why are referendums held - please own political supporters

Answer 8

interests of a particular party not nation of as a whole
> conservative party has been deeply divided over EU. Cameron promised a EU ref to please his own party and to win back voters from UKIP’s political threat

Question 9

why are referendums held - response to seemingly public mood

Answer 9

since snp’s power from 2007, mandate from the public for scotland to become independent 55.3% remain in uk

Question 10

process referendums are carried out

Answer 10

constitutional issue, for an official referendum, Westminster has to agree to it
November 2022, UK supreme court, ruled the Scottish parliament didn’t have the power under the current devolution settlement to hold a second Indy ref.

Question 11

why is wording of a question important

Answer 11

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Question 12

strengths of referendums - elective dictatorship

Answer 12

lord hailsham, argued refs an provide a check on gov in the UK that is referred to as an ‘elective dictatorship’
under FTPT gov often gains a large majority, (average majority has been 58.4 since 1945
therefore cant enforce its political will on the population, putting power in hands of the electorate, when usually fptp doesn’t always result in the will of the people

Question 13

counter to elective dictatorship - weakness of referendums -

Answer 13

held at discretion of the government, therefore not an exercise of direct democracy, as governments decision to hold one or not. such as the Westminster gov under johnson pledged not to hold a second Scottish independence ref, despite the wide spread support for the SNP
tools of executive
ao2: significant because it confirmed power sharing and ni devolution counter ao2: high despite high turnout it undermines democracy when results are close , divisions SNP continued to campaign for a 2nd indy ref, and johnson risked a hard brexit representing only 37% of the adu;lt population. fiurthermore, indy hasnt solved the long tanding issues

Question 14

strengths of referendums - raise public awareness on key issues

Answer 14

focus on a single issue unlike general elections, wide scrutiny of the issue and education around it can help raise awareness.
eg. scotish indy ref 2014, allowed robust debate over the issue, 16 year olds could vote, therefore, schools helped balance political education over the issue informing them.

Question 15

counter to raising public awareness - weakness of referendum

Answer 15

• dominated by populism
  or
  reduce complex issues to a simple question
  or
  give power to uneducated voters

Question 16

strengths of referendums - single issue can be addressed

Answer 16

general elections can cause confusion for the public by weighing up numbers of competing issues, different lveles of importance. refs allow individual issues, therefore gives the decision taken more legitimacy
*could link to raising awareness

Question 17

counter to single issue addresses - wealnessof referendum

Answer 17

this can lead to emotionalised campaigns dominated with populism - arguement become distorted, as they are held on complex issues its easy for populism to take hold. EG levels of populism were key criticism of the EU ref in 2016 where both sides were accused of poor campaign and misuse of facts - osborn claimed families would loose 4,300 a year with an eu exit, as chancellor

Question 18

strengths of referendums - settle long standing issues

Answer 18

allows voters to consider long standing and controversial issues directly. legitimacy bestows the vote.
shown in the good Friday agreement 1998, ended troubles and power sharing, dramatic policy would not have had legitimacy if it was agreed by politicians and not the citizens of NI. gov had previously tried to do this and was boycotted by republicans as they felt it didn’t address their issues

Question 19

counter to long standin issues - weaknes of referendum

Answer 19

reduce complex issues to a simple question, simplifying. this could further undermine representative democracy and parliamentary sovereignty because the electorate lack the expertise to vote on these complex issues like brexit. overuse of referendums could lead to it being expected more

Question 20

strengths of referendums - equal say to each voter

Answer 20

under FPTP, votes don’t equal seats. those in marginal seats have more weight than in safe seats, more likely to make a difference
referendums counter act this issue as votes are equal, final verdict then has a greater mandate
> in 2015, UKIP won 3.8 mill votes 12.6%, but only secured one seat in parliament. however in 2016 ref each of those Eurosceptic votes were counted equally
or
hijacke by oher issues, despite electoral reform being a long standing issue for smaller parties and lib dems putting it in their coalition agreement terms, the av referendum 2011, became about the libdems performance in government, the failure on tuition fees from clegg. electorate voted on their feelings towards dems instead of the voting system itself.

Question 21

couter to equal say for each voter

Answer 21

gives power to uneducated voters, extreme moral and political issues, whilst bestowing democratic legitimacy, voters can be not well equipped to make the decisions. EG famously the morning after the eu 2016 referendum the second most googled term in Britain was ‘what is the EU’

Question 22

counter to equal votes

Answer 22

tyranny of the majority
especially doesn’t happen in a proportional system, however from a referendum there is a losing side in which a large amount of the electorate can feel dismissed
EG; seen in how boris johnson was willing to risk a no-deal brexit when he became pm in 2019. in the name of only representing 52% of the population who voted leave, considering the overall population, this would only be representing 37% of the uk adult population who actually voted for brexit.