Democracy and the Irish referendums on the european treaty of Nice.
Five points to invite discussion:
1. After the people of the Irish Republic have voted in a referendum
their government is obliged to comply with the result. This contrasts
with referendum in Great Britain and Northern Ireland (GB),
which is NOT binding on parliament or government. Referendum in GB
(perhaps better called plebiscite, in which the "common people" are
asked what they think about public policy) is a form of
consultation. With a referendum the Irish people exercise their
political sovereignty to decide on a particular issue (using their
collective power to have the final say) which the people of GB may
not do.
2. Even in Ireland there is not much direct democracy. Changes to the
Constitution require referendum, and parliament may propose that a law
be referred to the people before it is put into force by the President.
But there is no citizens' initiative (proposal of law or policy by an
agreed number of citizens) nor do the people have the right, by
triggering a referendum, to veto or change a law passed by parliament.
3. Compared with the first referendum on the Nice treaty, public
information (probably levels of knowledge too) about the controversial
aspects of the treaty, and debate of the issues were increased. "Civil
society" groups, mass-media and government tried harder to inform the
public and to encourage voting. Some argue that citizens were fooled
into voting "Yes" by a deceptive campaign of government and "Yes"
lobby.
4. Internet was shown to be useful in the democratic process.
Government set up a special web-site for European issues. Its offer
includes basic information about the treaty plus announcements of
("real-life") public meetings. The web-site of a major newspaper
offered a comprehensive introduction to the issues and a collection of
links to organisations and groups "pro" and "contra" the treaty. The
Internet has potential to be used even more extensively in both direct
and "representative" forms of democracy.
5. For the peoples of Europe the little known idea of having a binding
referendum on important public issues was placed in the limelight. It
should be glaringly obvious that, in those countries where the people
have NO RIGHT (or no effective right) to referendum on vital matters of
state - most EU countries and candidate countries are in this category
- there is a serious deficit of democracy.
Michael Macpherson
Copyright M J Macpherson
May be quoted and distributed fairly and reasonably.
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