EDITORIAL: Brexit a clear example of danger of direct democracy
Politicians abrogated their responsibility when they put the issue to the vote
It’s easy to see why direct democracy, especially in the current age where there is much suspicion of elites and the political class, can seem appealing. That’s until one looks at the mess the UK has got itself into since politicians decided to abrogate their responsibility and put one of the nation’s biggest political and economic decisions in its history to a popular vote. In all the talk about what the “people” want, it’s often forgotten that Britain is a representative democracy. That means members of parliament are not mere delegates and their job is to independently make informed decisions on behalf of their constituencies. They are not obliged to blindly follow what voters tell them. Of course, if those voters feel aggrieved, they can vote them out at the next election. So it’s a complete misnomer for Prime Minister Theresa May to argue that legislators rejecting her flawed Brexit deal with the EU — possibly delaying and even blocking the exit from the EU — would amount to a ...
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