REFERENDA

Most countries in the modern world are governed by democracy, which is defined as the rule of the people. In democracy, the public selects representatives to govern in their name but in some countries, the public continues to take an active part in decision making through referendums where they are asked yes/no questions. Yet is this really a good idea and should the public be asked to make policy decisions in this way? Referendums and whether or not they are good idea is a very controversial topic; there are both advantages and disadvantages.

        There are several advantages of referendums but the most significant one is that they educate the public about political issues. When there is a referendum which is approaching people start to look for information about the  issue in question because they need to have enough knowledge before they make a decision about it; therefore, they read  about it and they become aware of what is going on.  Besides this, referendums can solve conflicts and secure consensus in the government because when the government itself is divided, it may  not be able to make the right decision about a critical issue.

        On the other hand, direct democracy, which referendums provide, has many disadvantages too. The most important problem is that the issues are usually too complex for a normal person who has no education about politics. Although people read  about an issue, most of them can’t understand it properly. Complicated issues cannot be dealt with by means of a simple yes/no question. Moreover, referendums are also likely to cause unsatisfactory conclusions if there is a very close referendum vote. If the result is very close, the referendum may lack legitimacy. Similarly, if voter turnout is low, the results could be questionable. In short, referenda are not as useful as they seem at first glance.   

         In conclusion, referendums  have both advantages and disadvantages. While they make many things easier in democracies, they can also cause conflict because of their unsatisfactory results. Although they provide an opportunity to educate the public, it is not certain that they will be turn out to be useful.