Referendums

Question 1

Referendums have been used more frequently since when?

Answer 1

1990s

Question 2

What have local elections typically been used for?

Answer 2

To approve or reject structural changes to local government and to authorize local policies

Question 3

State and describe two examples of local referendums

Answer 3

• by 2021, 54 referendums had been held on moving to the directly elected mayor model, with only 17 approving the move. Seven referendums were held on removing the office of the directly elected mayor, with two of them producing a vote to abolish the post
• referendums were held on introducing congestion charges in Edinburgh in 2005 and Manchester in 2008. In both cases, around three quarters rejected the proposals and so they were dropped

Question 4

State and describe some reasons why national referendums are held

Answer 4

1) constitutional change - the blair governments held referendums to approve their proposals for constitutional change, particularly devolution
2) coalition agreement - a referendum was held on replacing FPTP with av in 2011
3) party management - by calling the 1975 and 2016 eec/EU referendums, Harold Wilson and David Cameron hoped to resolve long running internal party divisions on the issue of European integration. Neither were successful
4) political pressure - the momentum for a Scottish independence referendum became irresistible after the SNPs victory in the 2011 elections for Scottish parliament. Governments are unlikely to hold referendums they believe they will lose and they have the advantage of controlling the timing of the referendum. Governments have also promised referendums, that, in the end, did not come to pass because of changed circumstances

Question 5

Give two examples of promised referendums that did not come to pass

Answer 5

• joining the euro
• approving eu treaties

Question 6

Which body is responsible for regulating referendums?

Answer 6

The electoral commission

Question 7

Which act gave the electoral commission specific responsibilities on regulating elections?

Answer 7

The 2000 political parties, elections and referendums act

Question 8

State and describe some different factors the electoral commission must regulate during a referendum

Answer 8

1) wording - comments on the intelligibility of proposed referendum questions. The government is not required to accept these suggestions but often does so
2) campaign participation - groups and individuals who expect to spend more more than £10,000 on the referendum must register as participants with the electoral commission. The comission designates lead organisation for each side of the referendum. These organisations have a higher spending limit, receive public money and are entitled to television broadcasts
3) campaign spending - the comission ensures that organisations and individuals adhere to limits on funding and spending
4) conduct of the campaign - the commission’s report on the 2016 EU referendum questioned rules regarding spending by the UK government

Question 9

What is a referendum?

Answer 9

A vote, which may be national, regional or local, in which qualified voters are asked a single question about a proposal, where the answer is usually ‘yes’ or ‘no’

Question 10

Why did an attempt to hold a referendum on northern Ireland in 1973 fail?

Answer 10

Half the community boycotted it

Question 11

Describe how referendums actually operate

Answer 11

• governing party forms a policy
• legislation is passed determining the rules, process and wording of the referendum
• parliament passes the act, or delegates authority to call a referendum to another body
• the electoral commission determines the group’s that will officially campaign for each side and approves the wording of the question
• the campaign is held
• the vote occurs
• based on the outcome, tye result is put into force, either automatically or by initiating new legislation

Question 12

Referendums can be described as ad hoc. What does this mean?

Answer 12

Parliament has choice over whether they are allowed to be held

Question 13

Legally, what are referendums?

Answer 13

An advisory means of testing public opinion

Question 14

What makes parliament unlikely to ignore the result of a referendum, even if they have a legal right to do so?

Answer 14

They hold democratic, or popular, sovereignty

Question 15

Give a statistic that highlights how referendums are politically binding

Answer 15

77% of MPs votes to trigger article 50, despite 80% of MPs being in favour of remaining in the eu

Question 16

What does British politics traditionally emphasise that makes referendums a rarity?

Answer 16

Parliamentary sovereignty over popular sovereignty

Question 17

What does the lack of a codified up constitution mean for referendums?

Answer 17

There are no formal circumstances for which a referendum must be held

Question 18

List the three UK wide referendums that have taken place

Answer 18

• 1975 referendum on remaining a member of the eec
• 2011 referendum on the use of the av system for Westminster elections
• 2016 Brexit referendum

Question 19

State the arguements in favour of referendums

Answer 19

• involves and consults the electorate directly
• they can be used to settle internal party disputes or as a part of political deal making
• they help prevent an elective dictatorship by giving the electorate a say outside of general elections
• they can settle arguements by demonstrating clear public support
• Britain has no codified constitution so it is important the public is consulted on constitutional change
• they can help educate the public on the political issue at hand
• the electoral commission works to make sure they are independently monitored
• they make destabilising changes in the future less likely, as the government seeking to undo the change would face another major public debate
• they can increase participation at the local level
• the electoral commission works to make sure the wording of the question is fair
• they let the public have their say more frequently, which holds the government to account
• it gives the voter a clearer choice than a general election, as there is a single issue at stake
• prevents a government from rushing through change without consulting voters
• referendums brought peace and stability to the northern Ireland during it early stages
• many voters do not trust politicians, so think some questions are too important to leave to them

Question 20

State the drawbacks of referendums

Answer 20

• undermine the idea of parliamentary sovereignty
• ordinary voters don’t have the expertise to make decisions on complex topics, so the vote could be uninformed
• referendums can be used to protest against the government rather than as
• they don’t always settle issues. Alex salmond said the issue had just been settled for a generation after the Scottish independence referendum and that the SNP wanted a future vote
• low turnouts can undermine the outcome and call legitimacy into question
• the arguements may not be clearly explained to the voters
• governments are under no obligation to call an election, even on issues voters feel they should have a say in
• turnout in the Welsh assembly was only 50%, and, because of the closeness of the result, only 25% of Welsh voters actually votes to set up the Welsh assembly. This undermined the assembly’s legitimacy
• they can cause a conflict between what representatives think is the best course of action, and what their constituents voted for, as was the case with Brexit
• the electoral commission reported that the 2016 Brexit vote saw distorted arguements used by leaders of both campaigns
• they tend to oversimplify things. As some things are too complex and have too many alternatives to be boiled down to a binary yes/no choice
• they can be extremely divisive, particularly if the result is close. Certain areas of the country are still referred to as ‘remain’ or ‘leave’

Question 21

Who fronted up the yes Scotland campaign group in 2014

Answer 21

The SNP

Question 22

Who supported the better together campaign in 2014

Answer 22

Labour, the conservatives and the lib Dems

Question 23

What was better together criticised for in 2014?

Answer 23

A negative campaign that focused on the dangers of independence

Question 24

List some factors that suggest referendums have improved representative democracy in the uk

Answer 24

• they have introduced direct democracy, ensuring that citizens have the final say on issues
• they have checked the power of government to ensure it is more responsive to the will of the people
• they have enhanced political participation, most notably in the Scottish independence referendum.
• they have educated people on political issues and improved popular understanding of politics
• they have legitimised important constitutional changes like devolution

Question 25

State reasons why referendums have not enhanced representative democracy in the uk

Answer 25

• they have undermined representative democracy
• they have taken important decisions away from those with the greatest political knowledge or experience
• they have undermined parliamentary sovereignty
• they have created tensions between parliament and the people
• governments take advantage of their ability to decide when referendums will be held
• turnouts are often poor, which can lead to decisions being taken with a minority of electorate support
• referendum campaigns have been ill informed and distorted by inaccurate claims made by rival camps and media bias

Question 26

Referendums have had an important political impact in what three key areas

Answer 26

• direct democracy
• parliamentary sovereignty and representative democracy
• constitutional convention

Question 27

What impact have referendums had on direct democracy?

Answer 27

• they have injected direct democracy into a system previously wedded to representative democracy
• they’ve extended political participation
• they’ve made the government more responsive to the public on major constitutional issues
• they have created competing legitimacies
• some of the information prese ted by referendum campaign groups has been misleading

Question 28

What effect have referendums had on parliamentary sovereignty and representative democracy?

Answer 28

• the use of referendums on major constitutional issues marks a shift toward popular sovereignty, where the people, rather than parliament, take the ultimate decision
• it has led to competing claims of legitimacy, due to the clash between popular and parliamentary sovereignty

Question 29

In what ways have referendums affected constitutional convention?

Answer 29

• since the 1997 devolution referendums, it has become constitutional convention that further changes to the devolved settlement would require approval in a referendum