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I like the idea of referendums. It shows how much people care about important issues. Internet polls are useless since they can be cheated and petitions suck be
by swebs 8y ago
I like the idea of referendums. It shows how much people care about important issues. Internet polls are useless since they can be cheated and petitions suck because they don't measure how many people are opposed to the petition.
- magduf 8y agoReferenda only work when the populace is informed and educated enough to make good decisions. Otherwise, you get Brexit.
- stordoff 8y ago_Only_ if they are adequately defined (and it's clear what the legal effect is). Two and a half years on from the Brexit referendum, we are still arguing about what it even _means_, and it's not clear if people even want to leave anymore. Ideally, they should be considered advisory only, otherwise you could end up with a tyranny of the majority situation (a very slight majority is probably not a good reason to make sweeping changes), or at least require a supermajority. I'd also say that in a lot of cases people do not understand the implications of what they are voting for, hence my preference for electing a representative to make these decisions, who are at least in theory elected to consider this effects.