3.2 Referendums Flashcards
2
What is the difference between a referendum and initaive
Ref: popular vote called by govt on single issue to give legitimacy to major constitutional change
Iniative: when the people call for vote on a policy change, rather than the government
1
What is the term for when the opinions of the public are used to inform political decisions?
consultative democracy
7
Describe the features of referendums in the UK
- Form of direct democracy
- Important decision (constitutional)
- Binary vote (yes/no) - exception of 1997 Scotland ref
- National, regional or local
- Advisory, not binding - exception of AV
- Occasional use (compared with say California)
- Generational (e.g. EU 1975 and 2016)
press ‘5’ once got general jist
What do you call successive referendums on the same issue?
‘neverendums’
3
Describe the rise in use of referendums in the UK
- No referendums 1979-97 (Con) - conservative beliefs of maintaining constitutional control
- Freq use since 1997 - Lab more receptive
- Currently have mixed system (direct and representative democracy)
6
What are the purposes of referendums in the UK?
- Settle disputes (e.g. Good Friday Agreement)
- Legitimacy (e.g. indyref 2014)
- Entrench/safeguard constitutional changes (Scottish Parliament ref 1997)
- Judge public opinion for future constitutional reform - esp when taxation involved (2004 NE)
- part of coalition agreement (AV 2011)
- part of party manifesto (EU 2016)
4
Describe the 1975 EEC membership referendum
- intended to settle Lab cabinet divisions over EEC
- Turnout at 65%
- Yes: 68%
- ‘Generational’ - repeated in 2016
3
Describe the 1979 Scottish devolution referendum
- Yes: 52%
- But 40% of electorate needed to vote yes to take effect (64% turnout prevented this)
- Led to Callaghan downfall
6
Describe the 1997 Scottish devolution referendum
- 2 questions
- 1st on creation of Scottish Parliament, 2nd on tax-varying powers
- ‘Yes-Yes’ result
- Turnout at 60%
- Yes: 74% (1st question)
- Legitimised decision (backed by New Lab)
3
Describe the 1997 Welsh devolution referendum
- Yes: 50.3%, No 49.7%
- Turnout at 50%
- ‘tyranny of majority’
4
Describe the 1998 GFA referendum
- High turnout - 81%
- Yes: 72%
- Legitimised decision (all major parties supported, bar DUP!)
- Simultaneous ref in ROI - 94% in favour
3
Describe the 2004 North East devolution referendum
- No 78%
- Turnout at 48%
- Seen as ref on Iraq decision
6
Describe the 2011 AV ref
- Result of Coalition agreement (Cameron vs Clegg, Con vs LD)
- AV = majoritarian electoral system
- Only legally binding ref
- Seen as ref on LD govt - LD unpop due to student tuition u-turns
- No 68%
- Turnout at 42%
3
Describe indyref 2014
- High turnout of 85% - important issue
- Yes 45%, No 55%
- Push for 2nd indyref due to continued dominance of SNP - ‘neverendum’
5
Describe the 2016 EU membership referendum
- 4 point margin
- Regional divisions - Eng/Wal remain, Scot/NI remain
- Misleading claims
- the Electoral Commission fined the ‘Leave.EU’ campaign for overspending by nearly £80k
- Led to Cameron resignaton; paralysed May’s premiership
3
Describe turnout in the EU Referendum
- 72% nationwide
- 67% in Scotland - democratic overload
- higher than comparative elections (2015 = 66%)
2
Describe misleading claims in the EU referendum
- Remain: year-long recession, emergency budget, medicine shortages
- Leave: £350m bus, 72m turkish immigrants
5
What are the rules of referendums?
- Set by the Electoral Commission
- Comment on wording of question (e.g. no negative lang and prevent leading/loaded question)
- Monitors campaign expenses and donations
- PPERA 2000 - state funding for main campaigns of 600k (700k for EU ref)
- 2014 inyref: Yes £2m vs No £3.4m
1
Which Lab MP was a prominent member of the Vote Leave campaign?
Gisela Stewart - Chair of Vote Leave campaign
3 (short points)
Do referendums make a significant impact on politics?
- Settle divisive issue (1975 EEC) vs ‘neverendums’ (push for 2nd indyref)
- Gage public opinion - pure DD (2016 EU ref) vs become focussed on other issues (2011 AV)
- Inc participation (1998 NI - 81%) vs low participation - democratic overload (2004 NE - 48%)
3Ps inc knock-downs + clinch
Evaluate the view that we should use more referendums in the UK.
Went with pro-argument
P1: Enables electorate to express views between elecs - not distorted by politicians who represent them, little partisan ties (e.g. e.g. 2004 NE) vs undermines parliamentary sovereignty - complex issues better left informed reps (e.g. EU 2016)
knock down - makes govts more responsive to public
P2: Can settle long-standing divisive issues (e.g. 1998 GFA) vs ‘neverendums’ - until right result reached (1979+1997 Scotland Dev)
knock-down - reflects shifts in public opinion
P3: Inc participation - more engaged/informed public due to greater media coverage (indyref 2014 - 85%) vs used as refs on govt (AV 2011)
knock-down - rare exceptions, main arg stronger
Clinch: purest form of DD
other arguments - see doc
3 (short points)
To what extent do referendums undermine representative democracy?
- Represent tyranny of majority (e.g. 1998 GFA - despite continuing divisions) vs refs are just advisory (2004 NE - more limited devolution)
- Undermines parliamentary sovereignty (e.g. EU 2016) vs MPs are trustee reps (AV 2011 - continued LD PR support)
- Used as device by divided govts (1975 EEC) vs entrench constituional change (e.g. 1997 Scot dev)
2
How have governments responded to the 2004 NE Referendum
- Advisory referendum - non-binding
- NE has seen devolution, just in more limited form
1
Describe how referendums undermine the trustee status of MPs
- May led govt with principal aim to negotiate EU withdrawal, despite personal support for remain
2
Describe how referendums do not undermine the trustee status of MPs
- LD continued support for electoral reform despite AV 2011 loss
- Change UK (Anna Soubry) - despite being elected on 2017 Con manifesto that pledged to leave
