Is there a case for the wider use of referendums?
Referendums are the direct exercise of democracy, as opposed to ‘representative democracy’ as in the British parliament. I think there is a case for their increased use. Sometimes, members of parliament of all parties will agree to support a measure which does not have the public’s backing. In the Westminster system, (such as Britain, Australia etc) each member represents a constituency, the idea being that as a representative the MP is not a delegate but is free to do what they feel is right in the interests of their constituency, so referendums should be irrelevant. However in practice, the MPs are governed by their party machine, and if the party machines of the two major parties agree (say labour and conservative in the UK’s case) then there is no way that another measure can get through parliament. For example, say the majority of UK residents wanted a referendum on Europe. The parties have agreed we should stay in Europe so a referendum won’t happen. Contrast this with Switzerlan
