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The recent controversial referendums in other countries threaten established democracy everywhere.

Referendums Are Undemocratic

Although voting for a referendum seems like a direct form of democracy, studies have shown that “…they often subvert democracy rather than serve it”. All referendums seem to do is focus on the flaws and inconsistencies of laws and policies that have already been passed by majority rule. Therefore, referendums are only rehashing old policies passed within the existing democratic system.

Referendums Are Dependent on Uninformed Citizens

Most countries attempting to pass referendums are representative democracies where citizens elect officials to represent their best interests. These elected officials are trusted to learn about all the potential pitfalls and benefits of upcoming policies and vote according to what would best serve those who elected them.

On the other hand, referendums require citizens to learn about nuanced policies when they have neither the time nor the access to good information to do so. They must depend on their friends, family, or social media for information…and many of these sources are uninformed as well.

Referendums Can Mislead Voters

If citizens are required to inform themselves on upcoming referendums, they can easily be misled. For example, one of the Brexit campaigns in the UK in favor of leaving the European Union promised to redirect a large amount of money from payments to the EU to their country’s underfunded healthcare system. However, after many voted to leave the EU and it passed, one of the leading proponents claimed he had never made that promise and that the voters were simply misinformed.

Referendums Depend on Political Party Rather than Substance of Policy

Most people have been found to vote for referendums if they are created or supported by the political party they support, rather than the actual policy the referendum is trying to change. For example, when the Italian Prime Minister decided to resign if his referendum did not pass, people who supported the opposing political party voted against it in order to force him out of office. They did not even take into account what was within the actual referendum.

Referendums Are a Tyranny of the Majority

Referendums threaten the protection of minority rights. The “tyranny of the majority” is when the majority overrules the minority. For example, when African Americans in the United States were denied the right to vote, they were denied the right to participate in democracy. Since white people in the U.S. were the majority, they refused to give them the right to vote because they wanted to protect their majority interests. It took the 15th Constitutional Amendment to finally give the African Americans the right to vote and have a voice in our democracy. Referendums will only give power back to the majority of people who vote for them, possibly at the expense of the rights of the minority.

Referendums can be dangerous for democracy. They can “undermine the legitimacy of legislators by suggesting that real democracy can only come directly from the people instead.” There is no doubt that referendums can be used as a powerful tool for change, but it may cost us our ideals in the process.

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Key Points:

  • Referendums are undemocratic.
  • Referendums are dependent on uninformed citizens.
  • Referendums can mislead voters.
  • Referendums depend on political party rather than substance of policy.
  • Referendums are a tyranny of the majority.

Quote This:

The government should train and direct the people in their acquisition of political knowledge and ability, thereby enabling them to exercise the powers of election, recall, initiative, and referendum. -Sun Yat-sen

Talk About It
  1. What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
  2. Talk about the examples of referendums in the video or some others ones you may have heard about. Do you think these referendums were good or bad policy changes? Why?
  3. Do you trust your elected officials to be informed and up to date on policies? Do you trust your elected officials to have your best interests in mind? Why or why not?
  4. How do you stay informed about new laws and governmental policies? How much time do you spend researching people and policies that are asking for your vote?
  5. When have you ever felt misinformed or misled by someone or something you read about? How can you be better informed?
  6. When have you disagreed about policies within your particular political party? When have you voted for policies outside of your political party?
  7. How could a future referendum hurt or help the rights of a minority group of people?
  8. Describe in your own words how referendums can be bad or good for democracy.
  9. Write a personal action step based on this conversation.