This is particularly the case when an amendment to a constitution which itself was approved by referendum is under consideration. Essay on the Advantages and Disadvantages of Free Trade. (one example of this is the 1975 UK referendum on whether the UK should remain in the EC, an issue over which the ruling Labour government was deeply divided). 98.9% of voters chose to remain in the UK (the referendum was boycotted by nationalists). There are a number of potential strengths of holding referendums within the UK political system: It can be argued that referendums provide a check on the power of the government in the UK, something that is often referred to as the elective dictatorship. First Past the Post does not give equal voting power across the UK. Get your custom essay on, Describe the Advantages and Disadvantages of Referendums , Get to Know The Price Estimate For Your Paper, "You must agree to out terms of services and privacy policy". (03 Mar 2014), Electoral reforms made by specific assemblies Should further powers be given to devolved governments? But what is AV and how would it . Disadvantages. Advantages. (21 Oct 2010), Inappropriate Electoral Systems Referendums can challenge parliamentary sovereignty and representative democracy. Not every member of the public will be interested in politics or in fact have a clear understanding of the political system in Britain and this could affect the voters outcome. Therefore this means that politicians who claim to 'represent' the public are not distorting them as . However, after the intervention off the Electoral Commission the question was as below. Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The first UK-wide referendum was held in __1975 __on the United Kingdoms continued membership of the European Community (European Union). A Second Referendum. Ill-informed decisions - the general public are less informed than elected politicians, and have no political . There is also an argument that governments . However, referendums have become much more commonplace since with both national referendums and a number of very significant regional referendums. Well occasionally send you promo and account related email. AV would end safe seats for life. (30 marks), Unit 3C: Representative processes in the USA, Media, opinion polls and election case studies, See all Government & Politics resources , Why are people against an EU referendum? . Referendums can often be hijacked by other issues. Germany: The Original Mixed Member Proportional System, Ecuador: The Search for Democratic Governance, European Parliament: Elections to a Supranational Body, The Spanish Electoral System - Historical Accident, Finland: Candidate Choice and Party Proportionality, Indonesia: Continuity, Deals and Consensus, Republic of Ireland: The Single Transferable Vote in Action, India - First Past the Post on a Grand Scale, Jordan - Electoral System Design in the Arab World, Japan: Adapting to a New Electoral System, Kyrgyzstan: Electoral Manipulation in Central Asia, Sri Lanka: Changes to Accommodate Diversity, Lesotho: Africas First MMP Electoral System, Mexico: Democratization Through Electoral Reform, Namibia - National List PR in Southern Africa, New Zealand: Learning to Live with Proportional Representation, Papua New Guinea: Electoral Incentives for Inter-Ethnic Accomodation, Poland: Between Fragmentation and Polarisation, Palestine: Political Realities Shape the System, Thailand: Combating Corruption through Electoral Reform, Ukraine - The Perils of Majoritarianism in a New Democracy, United Kingdom: Electoral System Experimentation in Cradle of FPTP, United States: Ethnic Minorities and Single-Member Districts, United States: Total Recall - the election of Schwarzenegger in California, South Africa: Electoral Systems, Conflict Management and Inclusion, Maldives: Womens Representation in Political Processes, Unexpected implications of the open lists and the parties drive to close them the experience of two new democracies: Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0, Practitioner's Network discussing Electoral Systems, Plurality systems where a majority coalition can't override the election leader Direct democracy - referendums give the public unmediated and direct control over a policy, making sure that the public's view is clearly articulated, not distorted by those who 'represent' them. Referendums give power to uneducated voters. This can perhaps be seen by the four years of political turmoil after the referendum surrounding how Britain should actually withdraw from the EU. Brexit is a major constitutional change. Indeed, thats how I put it to my fellow European leaders: this is my strategy for keeping Britain in Europe. So why is this and what might the advantages and disadvantages of referendums be? AV might reduce the number of safe seats - but it would not eliminate them. The increasing use of referendums in the UK has created a convention that they should be used for major constitutional change or a change to the way in which the UK is governed. Referendums provide constitutional changes that need the peoples assent. Reduced government power - provides a check on government power, as the government has less control over the outcome of a referendum than it does over Parliament. This protects representatives in the future from some of the political comeback if the decision appears to be misguided. A good example of a post-legislative referendum was the AV Referendum where a bill had been written and agreed and the referendum was the final stage in the process. This took place on both sides of the debate. A PowerPoint illustrating how referendums are used in the UK, and what their advantages are. There is a consistent danger that referendums, because of their binary nature, become dominated by wider political issues and not just the issue on the ballot paper. (one example of this is the 1975 UK referendum on whether the UK should remain in the EC, an issue over which the ruling Labour government was deeply divided). 5. This creates an automatic bias. CHAPTER 1: Introduction. In the 2015 General Election UKIP had won 3.8 million votes (12.6%) but had only secured one seat in Parliament. Brexit became incredibly emotionalised and was not a referendum in which facts seemed to mean for very much. It provides a level of political support for difficult decisions. The pound depreciation as an aftereffect of Brexit. Since __1973 __there have been eleven referendums held in the UK, the majority of them have been related to the issue of devolution. However, referendums counteract this problem. Advantages. On the Leave side, however, the EU became a handy scapegoat for a wide range of socio-economic issues with a number of causes. Lesson Objectives To understand what a referendum is To examine case studies of referendums To analyse the advantages and disadvantages of referendums 3. 10 reasons against Scottish independence. Holding referendums on key constitutional issues is a way to ensure an overpowering government cannot enforce its political will on the population. Brexit is now a moral issue, and the next few weeks will test our moral resolve. Direct Democracy Democracy in which power over decision making is but directly in the hands of citizens. Referendums can settle long-standing and controversial issues. Brexit would eliminate protections of equal pay, maternity leave, and safe workplaces. It is worth noting that in terms of overall population that only 37% of the UK adult population actually voted for Brexit. To this end, the alternatives that are likely to fit best to the sides' interests will be . There are three primary reasons why one might consider referendums a good idea. This infers that they can help to entrench constitutional change in a system which has an uncodified, flexible constitution and enables the public to shape the path in which Britain is heading. European Communities Act (1972) -The Act of Parliament that saw Britain join the EEC in 1973. They differ from elections- an election fills an office (so does not directly affect policy), whereas referendums do directly affect policy. What are the different types of referendums? Referendums are the purest form of democracy as it is entirely up to the people to decide. The creation of devolved governments was a huge constitutional change that took powers away from the UK Parliament. . Reproduced by permission of International IDEA from Electoral System Design: The New International IDEA Handbook 2005 International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance The electronic version of this publication is made available under a Creative Commons Attribute-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) licence. Citizens are protected from an over-powerful government. Disadvantages of referendums. A post-legislative referendum This is a referendum held after a law is passed to confirm whether people are satisfied with it. Scots will not be ready for another independence referendum until a stronger economic case is made to break from the UK, according to SNP leadership hopeful Kate Forbes. In 2014, had the population of Scotland voted to leave the UK then primary legislation would have had to have been passed to enable this. 806 8067 22, Registered office: International House, Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XE, Direct/ representative democracy and Nature of Representative democracy, Evaluate how democratic, in practice, initiatives and referendums are in making public policy decisions in the USA. The issue realistically has to be broken into a binary question. Direct democracy: advantages and disadvantages protect elite and incumbent interests at the expense of broader public interests. One of the three . The UK EU . Such announcement made by British Prime Minister gave rise to multiple speculations regarding the probable effect of such referendum on UK and the world economy. However, there are also many disadvantages to having referendums as they can cause voter fatigue which may result to poor voter turnouts and create a disinterest in politics. Free Trade . , Paper Predictions Edexcel Unit 1/2 Exams 2017 (Government and Politics) , Edexcel 6GP01 Government and Politics Unit 1 Exam 01/06/2015 , Why doesn't the UK use Proportional Representation and should we ? Cost. Advantages of referendums. This lesson comprises: - a comparison of representative democracy and referendums - a list of UK referendums since 1973 and an accompanying PPT - how we use referendums in the UK - local and national - a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of referendums Explain the Benefits and Downsides of using Referendums in the UK? Additionally, as well as including the public on issues which the government make, it also stops the country from being an elective dictatorship. This is because although a majority of people voted a certain way, there is usually a very slim margin between this and the other outcome which could be achieved. The scenario changed since 2013 when the British Prime Minister David Cameron put forward the plan of holding a referendum on continuation of their membership with European Union. If a government were to offer the people to make a decision on an major issue and then ignore their verdict it would be politically suicidal. The ultimate role of the whole population in deciding whether the deal sticks can be important in prodding elites, otherwise comfortable and secure in their factional power, to do the harder work of engaging with the bigger political picture. On June 23, 2016, a referendum (public vote) was held in the UK for its withdrawal from the European Union. General Elections can be confusing for voters. To confirm a decision taken by a previous Government Sometimes a party will promise a referendum as a position of opposition to the current government. Retrieved from http://studymoose.com/describe-the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-referendums-essay. However, there was little discussion on what leaving would mean and how Britain might leave the EU. I know what happens when an industry closes the unemployment, the poverty, the loss of hope, the years it takes to get back on your feet, the grievances that still play out today. First, June saw an unexpected British vote to leave the European Union (EU). This means that the public vote for a party and are unable to change anything once they are in power. Political deals. A good example of this is the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement that ended the Troubles on Northern Ireland and set up the power-sharing agreement between nationalist and republican communities. An example of this the Scottish referendum 2014, which saw 55% of the Scottish people vote no to independence. 4. The ministers indulge in corrupt practices because the people have no control over them. One of the benefits of them is they take issues out of the party-political arena and allow voters to consider them directly. Equality Feminism and Difference Feminism, Differing Views and Tensions Within Feminism, Differing Views and Tensions Within Liberalism, Measurements of Success Through Pressure Groups, Differing Views and Tensions Within Socialism, Differing Views and Tensions Within Conservatism, Public are given direct control over policy-making, ensuring their views and interests are directly reflected in policy, Helps to educate the public about important political questions, as they will be better-informed about key issues through referendum campaigns, Makes the government listen to the public more, as it is another way of voters communicating their thoughts other than just through elections, Provides a check on government power- governments dont control the outcome, Ensures that major changes (e.g. The older term for a referendum is a PLEBISCITE . Once the UK landscape had settled, the focus shifted to the risks and opportunities facing the nation. On Thursday 23 June 2016 a referendum was held in order to come to a decision if the UK should remain a member of EU and more than 30 million people have voted. For fear of recall, they will hesitate to do any undesirable thing. Referendums allow for a single issue to be addressed on its own merits. The EU referendum result led to the resignation of the Prime Minister David Cameron, the election of Theresa May as Conservative leader, and the instillation of, in effect, a new government. There is therefore a danger of neverendums. One of the major advantages of a written constitution is the fact that it can be easily consulted. They are an example of direct democracy and contrast with the representative democracy that usually dominates politics in liberal democracies. 806 8067 22 An example of a one being used for this function is the 1998 referendum which was utilized to identify whether Blair and the Labour Party should devolve power to Scotland, Wales, and . In reality, this almost always means that the Westminster Government will have to agree to it too. Referendums can settle long-standing and controversial issues once and for all. Unlike General Elections, referendums allow political parties and voters to focus entirely on a single issue. In 2007 the SNP won the Scottish Election and did so again in 2011. In Britain, referendums had been associated with Nazi Germany, where Hitler had use plebiscites to confirm support for his policies such as making himself Fuhrer (1934) and Anschluss (1938). Referendums have to reduce complex issues to simple questions. In fact, until 1975 there had not been a single nationwide referendum on any political issue. Give us your email address and well send this sample there. Representative Democracy (also called indirect democracy) - is where citizens choose others to represent them, making important decisions on their behalf. Referendums are an example of direct democracy, whereas elections are a form of representative democracy. They are particularly good with Social Law reform, Ireland has used them to good effect here. This led to the EEC Referendum in 1975 in which 67.2% of voters chose to remain in the EEC. Further to this point, referendums are sometimes seen as a means available to elected representatives to avoid having to take an unpopular position on a controversial issue. What might be the strengths of referendums? 2. Get Revising is one of the trading names of The Student Room Group Ltd. Register Number: 04666380 (England and Wales), VAT No. The advantages of fibre optic certainly outweigh any disadvantages but it would be disingenuous not to mention the potential issues. Good examples of this are the Scottish Independence Referendum in 2014 and the EU Referendum in 2016. Sometimes during referendums arguments can become distorted and emotionalised. However, realistically most are politically binding. Therefore, it is not really the exercise in direct democracy. PolitiFact | Whats missing from media claims linking Google Trends to Brexit vote, Prime Ministers Questions Highlights 12.10.2022, Whether Britain should remain or leave the EU, 55.3% of voters chose to remain in the UK, Whether the Alternative Vote should replace First Past the Post for UK General Elections, 67.9% of voters chose to retain First Past the Post, Welsh Assembly Legislative Powers Referendum, Whether the Welsh Assembly should be given more legislative powers, 63.5% of voters chose to increase the legislative powers of the Welsh Assembly, Whether the North-East of England should have its own devolved assembly, 77.9% of voters chose to reject the establishment of a North-East Assembly, Whether the Good Friday agreement should be ratified, 71.1% of voters chose to ratify the Good Friday Agreement, Whether devolution should be granted to Greater London, 72% of of voters chose to establish a devolved system for London, Whether devolution should be introduced to Wales, 50.3% of voters chose to devolve powers to Wales, Whether devolution should be introduced to Scotland, 74.3% of voters chose to devolve players to Scotland, 79.7% of voters chose to reject devolution to Wales, 51.6% of voters chose to devolve powers to Scotland. 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