3.3 - Referendums Flashcards
What is a referendum?
A ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to vote offered to the public on a single issue.
Why have referendums been used in the UK?
Give more power to the Welsh Assembly
Consider replacing FPTP
Give Scotland a vote on independence
Give the UK public a vote on leaving the EU
Why did the EU referendum cause such problems?
Only giving two choices of ‘remain’ or ‘leave’ ensured the decision would be enforced by Parliament.
Why might a government call a referendum?
In response to public pressure.
To resolve controversial issues within a party.
As part of an agreement between two parties.
Lend legitimacy to constitutional changes.
What is an example of a government calling a referendum due to public pressure?
2014 Scottish Indy Ref due to majority SNP government.
2016 EU Ref due to UKIP arguing for leaving EU and promising a referendum, the Conservative Party offered a referendum to not lose it’s voters to UKIP.
What is a feature of a referendum that most tend to neglect?
As Parliament is sovereign, they can just ignore a referendum’s results as it is simply advisory.
Why does the Supreme Courts case ensuring that parliament would follow the EU referendum mean little?
Parliament could pass another law that ignores the Supreme Court as sovereignty lies with Parliament.
Why has Parliament followed the result of every referendum in UK history?
Public pressure would make not following the result highly unadvisable.
What were the conclusions of the Investigation into Vote Leave?
Referendum spending was £7,449,079.34, exceeding the spending limit of £7,000,000.
The spending return was inaccurate for 43 items of spending, totalling to £236,501.44
BeLeave exceeded the spending limit of £10,000 by more than £666,000.
Vote Leave failed to comply with an investigation notice.
What are the notable consequences of referendum usage in the UK?
The public now expect far more referendums than before.
Why has the public’s expectation of more referendums occured?
The UK constitution is uncodified and unentrenched.
What was a common demand after the Brexit referendum?
Another referendum on EU membership.
Why was the second EU referendum opposed by then-PM Theresa May?
She argued that to not deliver on the original referendum would threaten social cohesion by ignoring the democratic will of the people.
What is a referendum an example of?
Direct democracy.
What problems does added direct democracy cause?
There might be considerable conflict between the public and the elected officials, particularly in light of misleading campaigns.
What does a referendum involve?
A vote on a narrow issue
A ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote
Called when the government wishes
The result is not legally binding
An example of direct democracy
What does the UK representative democracy hinge upon?
The ‘trustee model’, with elected officials being allowed to use their conscience to act in the best interests of the governed.
Are referendums good for the UK? (Yes)
Encourage participation and education.
Provided a clear answer to political issues.
Enhanced liberal democracy.
The management of referendums is overseen by an independent Electoral Commission.
Enhanced representation in the UK.
Accepted constitutional convention.
Are referendums good for the UK? (No)
Turnout for some has been low, undermining legitimacy of result.
Close results are more divisive than settling.
Some campaigns have been massively misleading.
Government decides when to call a referendum, meaning power is concentrated in the government.
Undermines representative democracy.
Issues are often complex with voters lacking necessary information.
Parliamentary sovereignty is undermined in reality as pressure from the people to honour the will of the people.
