Are they a good thing?
I was thinking, in my country we never really have them. We elect politicians and let them get on with making the 'right' decisions, and they'll be judged on those decisions come election time. Personally, I really don't like the idea of the public having a vote in every little matter, as most the time they are ill informed or bring their prejudice into it. Surely we pay politicians to make these decisions for us, no?
Take one example, a while ago, there were calls in my country to have a referendum over the Lisbon Treaty. Now the Lisbon Treaty is something 99% of the public (including myself) couldn't possibly have a full understanding of, no one is going to read through hundreds or thousands of pages of what is essentially a legal document to get themselves well informed, they are just going to vote for what the newspapers tell them to vote for.
In America, I see you are voting for things like gay marriage. Why not have a public debate instead, and leave it up to the politician to decide, that's what they're paid for, aren't they?
All in all, I don't trust the public to make good decisions, I don't trust politicians that much either, but rather them than the public.
I was thinking, in my country we never really have them. We elect politicians and let them get on with making the 'right' decisions, and they'll be judged on those decisions come election time. Personally, I really don't like the idea of the public having a vote in every little matter, as most the time they are ill informed or bring their prejudice into it. Surely we pay politicians to make these decisions for us, no?
Take one example, a while ago, there were calls in my country to have a referendum over the Lisbon Treaty. Now the Lisbon Treaty is something 99% of the public (including myself) couldn't possibly have a full understanding of, no one is going to read through hundreds or thousands of pages of what is essentially a legal document to get themselves well informed, they are just going to vote for what the newspapers tell them to vote for.
In America, I see you are voting for things like gay marriage. Why not have a public debate instead, and leave it up to the politician to decide, that's what they're paid for, aren't they?
All in all, I don't trust the public to make good decisions, I don't trust politicians that much either, but rather them than the public.
