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With the HST issue, it wasn't necessarily the democracy that was the fault but the mechanism of direct democracy referendum. Also the culprit with Brexit. Ther
by Tiktaalik 4y ago
With the HST issue, it wasn't necessarily the democracy that was the fault but the mechanism of direct democracy referendum. Also the culprit with Brexit.
There's a reason our democracies are representative democracies. It allows things to slow down and our representatives to have cooler heads and make informed decisions.
In contrast a referendum is easily instantly hijacked and there's never any guarantee that the way people are voting in the referendum has anything actually to do with the referendum issue.
In BC's case with the HST the vote on the tax quickly became a way to poke the unpopular Premier Gordon Campbell in the eye, and many people voted against the HST to make a point against a government that they were mad at for other reasons.
Referendums are bad bad bad.
- Gud 4y agoI disagree completely with this point of view. Look to Switzerland for a functioning direct democracy.
- Tiktaalik 4y agoWomen only got the vote in Switzerland in 1971. Referendums were effectively used to limit their rights for decades upon decades longer than other democracies.
- Gud 4y agoThings move slower in Switzerland. Eventually they adapt good ideas. That is why they're so stable but not always progressive. Switzerland is a very diverse country politically and culturally.