“More or less democracy Needed?

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(903 words)

We have come to accept that whenever the word “democracy” is used, it must be a
good thing. Democracy can mean many things to many people. What one man might call
democracy, another may call an elected dictatorship. British political theorist Sir Bernard
Crick said, “Democracy is perhaps the most promiscuous word in the world of public
affairs.” However, when democracy means many things to many people, it runs the risk of
meaning nothing at all to anyone. At present newspaper editorials and letters to the editor
abound with debates over the promiscuity of citizens initiated referendums, due to the
polarizing nature of the pro-smacking referendum we will soon be voting on.
While New Zealanders debate the pros and cons of such an issue, perhaps the real
issue we should all be debating is... do we want more or less democracy? There are those
who argue we should simply leave all the decision making to professional politicians. They
argue that we elect governments to govern, so all we need to do is vote once every three
years, then leave it up to these professional politicians to make all the hard decisions. One
might consider these elitists. They argue that referendums are expensive, ambiguous,
misleading and crude instruments that lead to tyranny of the majority. Prime Minister John
Key has also promised another referendum on the future of proportional representation,
but many are arguing for a return to first-past-the-post, even though under this system, the
party with the most votes does not always become the government. This happened in New
Zealand in the 1978 and 1981 elections. These results, along with a growing distrust of
politicians due to many broken promises, and New Zealanders innate belief in fairness, led
to calls for a Royal Commission. This eventually bought about our current proportional
representation system.
If we do want more democracy, and consider this to be a good thing, is electing a
government every three years, then having no say in between, all that is required to call
ourselves a democracy? Given the complexity of life and the polarizing issues that face the
nation from time to time, surely the answer must be to make politics more inclusive? After
all, we are a far more educated and informed society than ever before. What we need in a
modern society is a true exchange of communications between the elected and the
electorate. We need to develop our political system to better reflect the will of the people
while still protecting the rights of all minorities.
No system is perfect with dictatorships, representative democracy and direct
democracy all having their good and bad points. If we are to have a more inclusive society,
then we have to continually look for ways to improve our political system. Referendums
therefore, must form an important part in that process, but to what point and in what way?
In his book Bridled Power, former Prime Minister and Law Professor, Geoffrey Palmer,
when discussing the Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993 says, “The Act should be
repealed. It appears to offer a chance for citizens to influence policy but in substance that
opportunity is like a mirage in the desert. Referenda should be reserved for those few and
important issues of constitution and conscience that should be bound by the people's
voice.” To those who think this is a good idea, should we also repeal parliament? Because
representative democracy also gives the illusion that citizens can influence policy, but
rarely does this happen.
The weakness of representative democracy and our current system is that once a
government is elected, there are few checks and balances between elections. The public
is basically excluded. While proportional representation and coalition governments may
have shackled Cabinet government to some extent, voters generally accept that whatever
the government of the day wants, it usually gets. This happens even if this goes against
the general will of the people.
While many arguments are given against the use of referendums, most of them
simply do not hold water when given closer scrutiny. As David Lange said, "Many of the
arguments against binding referenda are demeaning. They assume people always vote for
things which are popular, which carry benefits without acknowledging the costs. These
arguments have been largely discredited by the experience overseas." Along with many
politicians, I would be the first to agree referendums in the past have been ambiguous,
misleading, biased and confusing. This in itself however, does not show a reason to repeal
referendums, only a reason to improve the process and make it more robust. In turn can
only make our democracy more robust and inclusive.
If politicians want an inclusive society, and not an exclusive, elitist society, they are
going to have to take referendums more seriously. If referendums are not binding then
they simply are not worth the paper they are written on. Whatever the price for, and the
arguments against, referendums are the voice of the people, that voice is sovereign and
must be respected by politicians. After all, it wasn't it all that long ago, politics was the
domain of a small elitist group. Although New Zealand was the first country in the world to
give women the vote, politicians prior to this didn't consider women were interested, or
even wise enough, to have the vote, and only those who owned real estate could have a
say in electing the government.
END
About Steve Baron:

He is the Founder of Better Democracy NZ. Co-editor of the book People Power: How to
make the government listen to YOU, for a change. Author of Putting an Old Head on
Young Shoulders. He stood for parliament as an independent at the 2005 elections in
Pakuranga. He was in the advertising and marketing industry for over twenty years as
Director of Baron Marketing Ltd. Steve was also a tutor for the New Zealand Institute of
Business Studies and a business mentor for Business Mentors New Zealand. He currently
lives in Cambridge and is a political science and economics student at Waikato University.

For more information:

Steve Baron
steve@betterdemocracy.co.nz
www.betterdemocracy.co.nz
Phone 021 165-1882