The Atlantic Times, January 2010
German supporters of referendums have a role model: Switzerland. They say referendums have “a preventive effect.” In Switzerland, “politicians pay very close attention to the opinions of their fellow citizens. Because they know that if they ignore the will of voters, they will pay for it with a referendum.”
Switzerland is paying for it right now, after 57 percent of the voting public supported a ban on building any new mosques with minarets. Two small, backward-looking, right-wing populist parties have asserted their will.
Plebiscites are a tool used in Germany at the communal and state level but not at the federal level. And that is a good thing because this approach to democracy by no means improves the world. The unpleasant part of the measure, beloved of the right and left alike, is that their political opponents also know how to take advantage of it.
It’s easy to win over a simple majority on many issues. In many societies, polls indicate a majority of voters tend to support the death penalty; or lifelong preventive detention for sex offenders, an option under German law for repeat offenders after they have served their sentence. The European Court of Justice has raised objections over this provision.
In the current economic situation, radical leftists could hope to use referendums to force the government to nationalize banks or ban private health insurance on the grounds that it creates a two-tier health care system. Right-wing extremists could apply for a ban on ritual slaughter in order to live out their xenophobic views.
Supporters claim that a referendum in favor of referendums would garner the support of as many as 80 percent of Germans. Or at least it would have that much support among those approached by pollsters. But would those people also turn out and vote? Voter participation even in federal elections isn’t that high anymore.
Supporters of referendums say that those opposed to them distrust the people. But it’s really the other way around. Supporting more referendums means distrusting legislators. Instead of strengthening democracy, plebiscites undermine its legitimacy since only a small part of those eligible actually cast a vote. And the more frequently such measures take place, the less people actually participate in them.
Which is why referendums are a form of selective dictatorship by the majority of those who vote in them – often in effect a minority special interest group. Plebiscites also weaken the quality of political decisions because they are limited to a choice of yes or no.
In parliament, on the other hand, elected representatives – many of them experts on various topics – deal intensely with the issues of the day, and reach solutions through a process of discussion and consideration. And that is exactly why humankind invented representative democracy because not every person can be an expert on every issue.
Democracy will not die because of opposition to referendums. Politicians who ignore the will of voters will pay the price at the ballot box. But results such as in Switzerland endanger liberalism and social cohesion. Now, politicians and judges at the European Court of Justice will have to defend the European Convention on Human Rights against the Swiss vox populi.