Posted: Jan 15, 2019 11:34 am
Scot Dutchy wrote:Referenda and representative governments dot go together. Why elect representatives if when they can be side stepped by a referendum. Especially the type held in the UK when one side uses illegal funding to spread lies.
Clearly they can go together. A general election isn't such a good way to gauge the will of the people on specific policy issues. Voters have no way to express a choice about which bits of a manifesto they like or dislike they can't rely on a party in power to enact everything in the manifesto. The Lib Dem U-turn on tuition fees is a notable example of that. Conversely Cameron's promise to hold an EU referendum probably didn't figure highly in most voters' decision. But anything put in a manifesto is treated as having a mandate.
Sometimes government will need to ask specific questions on single issues.