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On June 23, Britain will go to the polls to decide whether or not the country should remain a member of the European Union. David Cameron’s in–out referendum on EU membership is, ostensibly, about finding out what the people want. But there is a better, and more democratic, way.
Britain has voted before on the question of EU membership but, judging from the press coverage, it seems many pundits and public figures are concerned that an emotional and uneducated public will give the ‘wrong’ answer this time. Back in 2013, and again in 2014, Peter Mandelson complained that the prime minister’s plans to go to the public on the matter were misguided.
Referendums are swayed by irrelevant issues, are “very blunt instruments” and the outcome would be “a lottery”, he said. In a sense, Lord Mandelson is right – the experience of countries like Ireland, where referendums are commonplace, suggests that they are often used to give the government of the day a kicking, rather than deal with the issue at hand. And yet a different kind of lottery could be more representative of public opinion than a referendum vote.
