BREXIT and democracy: A thought experiment
A thought experiment...
The democratically elected government says diesel cars are bad, but put under pressure by lobbying groups a referendum is created that says
"Do you want Britain to move to entirely Diesel cars"
[ X ] Yes
[ ] No
The politicians and unelected bureaucrats like Nigel Farage run a campaign that says with diesel we can have cleaner air. Don't you want cleaner air? The slogan MAKE BRITAIN CLEAN AGAIN is everywhere.
People vote YES to diesel. There is nothing in the referendum to promise that diesel will make the air cleaner.
The government now has a problem, it either says this is a terrible idea and puts a stop to it, or supports the will of the people knowing it will cost billions of £ and in the end you will not have clean air, in fact probably dirtier air.
What's the democratic thing to do?
Diesel Cars
You are supporting the "will of the people" but you are not operating in their best interest.
No Diesel Cars
You are no supporting the "will of the people" but you are operating in their best interest.
Another Vote
You are effectively not supporting change, or the original vote. The second vote is effectively as worthless as the first because it's just the whim (not the will) of the people and is subject to change.
Referendums are useful for one thing only and that is for the people to rubber stamp a full plan and promise that a democratically elected government has made in effect saying "the people want cleaner air, here is our plan to ban diesel cars, it will cost you money to get rid of them, but the benefits will be x% cleaner air in 4 years" the full details of the plan are provided.
The people can then confirm that they agree to execute this plan, complex open questions with no facts should not be put in a referendum.
The democratically elected government says diesel cars are bad, but put under pressure by lobbying groups a referendum is created that says
"Do you want Britain to move to entirely Diesel cars"
[ X ] Yes
[ ] No
The politicians and unelected bureaucrats like Nigel Farage run a campaign that says with diesel we can have cleaner air. Don't you want cleaner air? The slogan MAKE BRITAIN CLEAN AGAIN is everywhere.
People vote YES to diesel. There is nothing in the referendum to promise that diesel will make the air cleaner.
The government now has a problem, it either says this is a terrible idea and puts a stop to it, or supports the will of the people knowing it will cost billions of £ and in the end you will not have clean air, in fact probably dirtier air.
What's the democratic thing to do?
Diesel Cars
You are supporting the "will of the people" but you are not operating in their best interest.
No Diesel Cars
You are no supporting the "will of the people" but you are operating in their best interest.
Another Vote
You are effectively not supporting change, or the original vote. The second vote is effectively as worthless as the first because it's just the whim (not the will) of the people and is subject to change.
Referendums are useful for one thing only and that is for the people to rubber stamp a full plan and promise that a democratically elected government has made in effect saying "the people want cleaner air, here is our plan to ban diesel cars, it will cost you money to get rid of them, but the benefits will be x% cleaner air in 4 years" the full details of the plan are provided.
The people can then confirm that they agree to execute this plan, complex open questions with no facts should not be put in a referendum.
Comments
Post a Comment