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Politics Paper 1 > 3.2 Referendums > Flashcards

3.2 Referendums Flashcards

1
Q

2

What is the difference between a referendum and initaive

A

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

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2
Q

1

What is the term for when the opinions of the public are used to inform political decisions?

A

consultative democracy

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3
Q

7

Describe the features of referendums in the UK

A
  • 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

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4
Q

What do you call successive referendums on the same issue?

A

‘neverendums’

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5
Q

3

Describe the rise in use of referendums in the UK

A
  • 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)
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6
Q

6

What are the purposes of referendums in the UK?

A
  • 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)
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7
Q

4

Describe the 1975 EEC membership referendum

A
  • intended to settle Lab cabinet divisions over EEC
  • Turnout at 65%
  • Yes: 68%
  • ‘Generational’ - repeated in 2016
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8
Q

3

Describe the 1979 Scottish devolution referendum

A
  • Yes: 52%
  • But 40% of electorate needed to vote yes to take effect (64% turnout prevented this)
  • Led to Callaghan downfall
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9
Q

6

Describe the 1997 Scottish devolution referendum

A
  • 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)
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10
Q

3

Describe the 1997 Welsh devolution referendum

A
  • Yes: 50.3%, No 49.7%
  • Turnout at 50%
  • ‘tyranny of majority’
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11
Q

4

Describe the 1998 GFA referendum

A
  • High turnout - 81%
  • Yes: 72%
  • Legitimised decision (all major parties supported, bar DUP!)
  • Simultaneous ref in ROI - 94% in favour
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12
Q

3

Describe the 2004 North East devolution referendum

A
  • No 78%
  • Turnout at 48%
  • Seen as ref on Iraq decision
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13
Q

6

Describe the 2011 AV ref

A
  • 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%
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14
Q

3

Describe indyref 2014

A
  • High turnout of 85% - important issue
  • Yes 45%, No 55%
  • Push for 2nd indyref due to continued dominance of SNP - ‘neverendum’
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15
Q

5

Describe the 2016 EU membership referendum

A
  • 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
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16
Q

3

Describe turnout in the EU Referendum

A
  • 72% nationwide
  • 67% in Scotland - democratic overload
  • higher than comparative elections (2015 = 66%)
17
Q

2

Describe misleading claims in the EU referendum

A
  • Remain: year-long recession, emergency budget, medicine shortages
  • Leave: £350m bus, 72m turkish immigrants
18
Q

5

What are the rules of referendums?

A
  • 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
19
Q

1

Which Lab MP was a prominent member of the Vote Leave campaign?

A

Gisela Stewart - Chair of Vote Leave campaign

20
Q

3 (short points)

Do referendums make a significant impact on politics?

A
  • 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%)
21
Q

3Ps inc knock-downs + clinch

Evaluate the view that we should use more referendums in the UK.

Went with pro-argument

A

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

22
Q

3 (short points)

To what extent do referendums undermine representative democracy?

A
  • 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)
23
Q

2

How have governments responded to the 2004 NE Referendum

A
  • Advisory referendum - non-binding
  • NE has seen devolution, just in more limited form
24
Q

1

Describe how referendums undermine the trustee status of MPs

A
  • May led govt with principal aim to negotiate EU withdrawal, despite personal support for remain
25
Q

2

Describe how referendums do not undermine the trustee status of MPs

A
  • 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

Politics Paper 1 (27 decks)

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