Should the UK use more referendums?

A referendum is a general vote by the electorate on a single political question which has been referred to them for a direct decision, it can only be answered in a 'yes' or 'no' format.
So, should we use more referendums in the UK?


Yes, we should, this is because referendums strengthen public democracy by letting them speak for themselves and letting them voice their views on a particular issue, it enables them to become a voice for their country. Yes because they increase participation in democratic action. As most people know general UK elections don't get a 100% turnout in terms of votes. For example, in 2015, only 66.1% of the UK people voted on an important decision that can potentially make our country better or sometimes worse. However, the Scottish Referendum that also took place this year got a turnout of 89.59% Scottish people voting on their own opinion and beliefs. This indicates people get more involved in referendum voting systems. Referendums also educate and inform the public on a particular issue. Education in terms of politics is important as sometimes people vote on things they do not understand which can sometimes impact the country massively. Referendums give people a chance to understand the issue clearly before they state their vote as it is spoken about more widely. The UK should have more referendums because they provide a clear answer to an important question. By having a closed question published the votes are clear to which people want. Giving a yes or no answer can provide true and strong feelings from the public. Lastly, the UK should have more referendums because they are a strong form of direct democracy. Direct Democracy describes a political system or circumstances where the people themselves make key political decisions. It promotes responsiveness; that it provides better signals than elections about voters' policy preferences; and that it enhances the legitimacy of decisions made. This makes people of the country want to be involved and vote knowing their voices are heard.


However, there are reasons for why the UK should not have more referendums. They may not reflect the views if the turnout is low. For example, if only 60% voted and 40% said yes and 20% said no there is still 40% of the population that didn't vote and it can change the statistics to a large extent. It is important for everyone to vote so a true representation is heard otherwise wrong decisions can be made. However, not everyone votes and there is no law to make them vote so referendums won't always be the best choice of voting. Referendums are definitely not cheap to hold, this is an economic issue that comes out of tax payers money, this money can be used on important things like housing, an increase on referendums will not help financially. Referendums only give a snapshot of the public opinion at one point in time. Views can change over a period of time but once a referendum has happened decisions cannot be changed, this can be hard for people who think they have made the wrong decision and that their vote will actually make the wrong impact on the issue. Lastly, a major issue with referendums is that they allow politicians to avoid making difficult decisions and taking the blame for them. As we know politicians make a lot of mistakes that the people of the country disagree with and it causes them hassle and lack of trust. The method of using a referendum outs the decisions in the hands of the public which gives the politicians an easy way out and to blame people of the UK for the decision made. This can cause more conflict between people and politicians as they would not agree with getting the blame for an answered question put forward by the government.


Overall, more UK referendums should take place as more people are likely to vote and direct democracy is important as the public like the idea of their voices being heard, more people talk about referendums and this will make people excited and more likely to vote on  an issue.

Is the UK truly democratic?

The first thing to consider, is that true democracy is participatory democracy, where members of the public are effectively members of the government by voting directly on policies. However, this is difficult to do and as a result, most modern democracies are representative; the people of the U.K choose who they want to have power over the country and trust that person to devise policies that will benefit them. However, not all that potential prime ministers promise is true and they can lose a lot of support from the people due to broken promises. A representative democracy can easily become an elected dictatorship if the population’s views are not heard. The question then, is to what extent is Britain democratic?

Democracy is power to the people, which emphasises itself through the vote. We vote on members of the Commons but not on the Lords. We vote on local representatives but not party leaders. We vote on people but not policies. We vote people into Parliament but not out of it. We vote for a particular party but our second choices are not considered. We vote on only that which we are asked to vote on. We cannot ensure policies are maintained by our vote. Evidently our democracy is far from flawless,  police barraging of public protesters and Rupert Murdoch’s mass media control show us that we are not quite as free as the democratic terminology seems to suggest.

One could argue that Britain could be made more democratic through a proportional electoral system, compulsory voting, a removal of unelected members of Parliament and more referendums. But it seems in these examples, more democratic is inversely proportional to more efficient. Proportional electoral systems may confuse voters and will result in less strong government; compulsory voting would cumber us with the careless votes of those uninterested in politics and therefore would not be an accurate representation of what the population wants; a removal of unelected members of Parliament may increase political bias and reduce the expert value of the Lords; referendums may be subject to people who do not know what is best for the country, and even then only those who set the agenda of the referendum – members of Parliament – are those possessing the power; they decide what we may decide on.

The most recent general UK election took place on the 7th of May 2015.
This year, due the Scottish referendum, the Scottish National party got 56/59 seats in Scotland as a lot of support was gained. Due to this support the SNP became the third largest party in the Commons.
The Liberal Democrats received their worst vote ever since 1970 and held just 8 out of their previous 57 seats. The Green Party won their highest ever share of the vote with 3.8% and held their only seat of Brighton Pavillion with a higher majority.
Now, we all know UKIP was despised by many, and this showed by them only gaining one seat at Clacton-on-Sea, however, they came third in terms of votes gaining 12.9%.
David Cameron, the conservative party leader and Edward Milliband, the labour party leader were the most popular parties in the most recent election. The conservatives, who won the election received 330 seats with a gain of 24 seats and the labour party received 232 with a loss of 26 seats from the previous election back in 2010.
Due to their defeat, Milliband (as a national leader) and Murphy (Scottish leader) resigned as did Clegg and Farage but Farage's resignation was rejected from his party and he remains in post.