Referendums

Question 1

What are referendums used for?

Answer 1

Constitutional issues

Question 2

What are the 3 national referendums?

Answer 2

-EU
-AV
-Brexit

Question 3

What was the EU election?

Answer 3

1975
Proposed wether or not to remain in the European Community

Question 4

What was the outcome of the EU election?

Answer 4

67% voted yes.

Question 5

What is the AV referendum

Answer 5

2011
Proposed moving to Alternate Vote systems for elections

Question 6

What was the outcome of the AV referendum?

Answer 6

67% voted no

Question 7

What was the outcome of Brexit?

Answer 7

51% voted yes.

Question 8

Why was the AV referendum held?

Answer 8

A result of the 2010 coalition between Cameron and Clegg.

Question 9

How do referendums boost political participation?

Answer 9

They engage voters in political debate.

Question 10

How high was turnout for the Scottish independence vote?

Answer 10

81% - higher than general elections.

Question 11

How do elections help party politics?

Answer 11

They allow voters to fine tune their policy preferences in an easier way than in elections, where they can only choose between parties.
Allows parties to put aside their differences.

Question 12

Why are referendums better than a parliamentary vote?

Answer 12

More final and can settle controversial arguments
Parliamentary vote can be overturned.

Question 13

How do referendums encourage an accountable government?

Answer 13

In the UK, governments are often elected in by a minority vote due to our electoral system.
Referendums allow the people to establish their wants and make sure they are line with what the government does.

Question 14

What are the 5 advantages of referendums?

Answer 14

-Boosts participation
-Allows for greater representative democracy
-Can settle contraversies
-Helps party politics
-Checks government.

Question 15

How does referendum style weaken their power?

Answer 15

THey are binary, only providing yes and no votes, meaning lots of things are still left to the government and these could not reflect the people’s wishes.

Question 16

What is an example of binary weaknesses in referendums?

Answer 16

Hard vs Soft Brexit

Question 17

What is an example of binary weaknesses in referendums?

Answer 17

Hard vs Soft Brexit

Question 18

What is hard brexit?

Answer 18

Britain leaves the EU with few or no trade deals in place.

Question 19

What is soft brexit?

Answer 19

Where the UK keeps close relations with the EU, which would’ve lessened economic detriment due to the deal.

Question 20

What is another negative of referendums? (participation)

Answer 20

Turnout is often low as there is little incentive to vote.

Question 21

How comprehensible can elections be?

Answer 21

Not very at all, with some issues being too complicated and not easily understood by a majority of voters.

Question 22

What is an example of referendums being incomprehensible?

Answer 22

AV referendum
AV is hard to understand and was not well explained.

Question 23

What is a consequence of low comprehensibility?

Answer 23

Low turnout.

Question 24

What is an example of low turnout in elections?

Answer 24

42% in the AV referendum

Question 25

How are controversial issues not resolved by referendums?

Answer 25

A once and for all vote cannot solve them entirely.
For example, with Brexit, there were many policies still left to be decided on and many wanted a second vote after a deal had been concluded.

Question 26

What is the tyranny of the majority argument?

Answer 26

The minority are not listened to, no matter how close the vote. See Brexit for example.

Question 27

What act created a commission for referendums?

Answer 27

The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000

Question 28

What 4 things did the electoral commission initiate as rules on referendums?

Answer 28

Wording must be simple
Campaign spending must be regulated
A leader must be appointed for each side
Campaigns must be ran so people are aware of how the referendum will operate.

Question 29

How does the media influence referendums?

Answer 29

The media can influence how people think.
41% of Brexit articles were pro-leave
2/3 of newspapers had a dominant pro-leave status
Brexit bus provided inaccurate information.

Question 30

When did wording need to be changed?

Answer 30

2011 scottish referendum. question deemed too leading .

Question 31

What is elite control of referendums?

Answer 31

Elites can influence elections and can shake the process to achieve a certain goal.

Question 32

What gives power to elites?

Answer 32

They control the decision to have one, the question, the rules and can manipulate funds.