3.3 - Referendums

Question 1

What is a referendum?

Answer 1

A ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to vote offered to the public on a single issue.

Question 2

Why have referendums been used in the UK?

Answer 2

• 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

Question 3

Why did the EU referendum cause such problems?

Answer 3

Only giving two choices of ‘remain’ or ‘leave’ ensured the decision would be enforced by Parliament.

Question 4

Why might a government call a referendum?

Answer 4

• 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.

Question 5

What is an example of a government calling a referendum due to public pressure?

Answer 5

• 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.

Question 6

What is a feature of a referendum that most tend to neglect?

Answer 6

As Parliament is sovereign, they can just ignore a referendum’s results as it is simply advisory.

Question 7

Why does the Supreme Courts case ensuring that parliament would follow the EU referendum mean little?

Answer 7

Parliament could pass another law that ignores the Supreme Court as sovereignty lies with Parliament.

Question 8

Why has Parliament followed the result of every referendum in UK history?

Answer 8

Public pressure would make not following the result highly unadvisable.

Question 9

What were the conclusions of the Investigation into Vote Leave?

Answer 9

• 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.

Question 10

What are the notable consequences of referendum usage in the UK?

Answer 10

The public now expect far more referendums than before.

Question 11

Why has the public’s expectation of more referendums occured?

Answer 11

The UK constitution is uncodified and unentrenched.

Question 12

What was a common demand after the Brexit referendum?

Answer 12

Another referendum on EU membership.

Question 13

Why was the second EU referendum opposed by then-PM Theresa May?

Answer 13

She argued that to not deliver on the original referendum would threaten social cohesion by ignoring the democratic will of the people.

Question 14

What is a referendum an example of?

Answer 14

Direct democracy.

Question 15

What problems does added direct democracy cause?

Answer 15

There might be considerable conflict between the public and the elected officials, particularly in light of misleading campaigns.

Question 16

What does a referendum involve?

Answer 16

• 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

Question 17

What does the UK representative democracy hinge upon?

Answer 17

The ‘trustee model’, with elected officials being allowed to use their conscience to act in the best interests of the governed.

Question 18

Are referendums good for the UK? (Yes)

Answer 18

• 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.

Question 19

Are referendums good for the UK? (No)

Answer 19

• 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.