Editing Referendum (section)

==Criticisms==

===Criticism of populist aspect===
[[File:Odessa Russian Sring 20140330 07.JPG|thumb|Pro-Russian protesters in [[Odesa]], Ukraine, demanding a referendum, March 30, 2014]]
[[File:20150703 Greek Referendum Demonstration for NO syntagma square Athens Greece.jpg|thumb| [[2015 Greek bailout referendum]] Demonstration for "NO" vote, [[Syntagma Square]], [[Athens]], Greece ]]

In Political Governance states that voters in a referendum are more likely to be driven by transient whims than by careful deliberation, or that they are not sufficiently informed to make decisions on complicated or technical issues.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kzV4V59udu8C | isbn=9788182053175 | title=Political Governance: Political theory | year=2005 | publisher=Gyan Publishing House | access-date=2023-03-19 | archive-date=2023-11-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106011659/https://books.google.com/books?id=kzV4V59udu8C | url-status=live }}</ref> Also, voters might be swayed by [[propaganda]], strong personalities, intimidation, and expensive advertising campaigns. [[James Madison]] argued that direct democracy is the "[[tyranny of the majority]]".

Some opposition to the referendum has arisen from its use by dictators such as [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Benito Mussolini]] who, it is argued,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Qvortrup|first1=Matt |title=Direct Democracy: A Comparative Study of the Theory and Practice of Government by the People|isbn=978-0-7190-8206-1|date=2013|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=Manchester}}</ref> used the plebiscite to disguise oppressive policies as [[populism]]. Dictators may also make use of referendums as well as [[show elections]] to further legitimize their authority such as [[António de Oliveira Salazar]] in [[1933 Portuguese constitutional referendum|1933]]; Benito Mussolini in [[1934 Italian general election|1934]]; Adolf Hitler in [[1934 German referendum|1934]], [[1936 German election and referendum|1936]]; [[Francisco Franco]] in [[1947 Spanish law of succession referendum|1947]]; [[Park Chung Hee]] in [[1972 South Korean constitutional referendum|1972]]; and [[Ferdinand Marcos]] in [[1973 Philippine constitutional plebiscite|1973]]. Hitler's use of plebiscites is argued{{by whom|date=March 2016}} as the reason why, since [[World War II]], there has been no provision in [[Germany]] for the holding of referendums at the federal level.

In recent years, referendums have been used strategically by several European governments trying to pursue political and electoral goals.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jcer.net/index.php/jcer/article/view/836/781|first1=Cecilia Emma|last1=Sottilotta|date=2017|title=The Strategic Use of Government-Sponsored Referendums in Contemporary Europe: Issues and Implications|journal=Journal of Contemporary European Research|volume=13|issue=4|pages=1361–1376|doi=10.30950/jcer.v13i4.836|s2cid=158825358|doi-access=free|access-date=2017-12-16|archive-date=2017-12-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171217014256/https://www.jcer.net/index.php/jcer/article/view/836/781|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1995, [[John Bruton]] considered that {{blockquote|All governments are unpopular. Given the chance, people would vote against them in a referendum. Therefore avoid referendums. Therefore don't raise questions which require them, such as the big versus the little states.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/dec/31/referendums-are-a-bad-idea-irish-leader-told-eu-in-1995|title = Referendums are a bad idea, Irish leader told EU in 1995|newspaper = The Guardian|date = 2019-12-31|last1 = Bowcott|first1 = Owen|last2 = Davies|first2 = Caroline|access-date = 2019-12-31|archive-date = 2019-12-31|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191231110719/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/dec/31/referendums-are-a-bad-idea-irish-leader-told-eu-in-1995|url-status = live}}</ref>}}

===Closed questions and the separability problem===
Some critics of the referendum attack the use of closed questions. A difficulty called the [[separability problem]] can plague a referendum on two or more issues. If one issue is in fact, or in perception, related to another on the ballot, the imposed simultaneous voting of first preference on each issue can result in an outcome which is displeasing to most.

===Undue limitations on regular government power===
Several commentators have noted that the use of [[Popular initiative|citizens' initiatives]] to amend constitutions has so tied the government to a jumble of popular demands as to render the government unworkable. A 2009 article in ''[[The Economist]]'' argued that this had restricted the ability of the [[California]] state government to tax the people and pass the budget, and called for an entirely new Californian constitution.<ref>{{Cite news
 | title=California: The ungovernable state
 | magazine=[[The Economist]]
 | location=[[London]]
 | date=16–22 May 2009
 | pages=33–36
 | url=http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displayStory.cfm?STORY_ID=13649050
 | access-date=8 September 2009
 | archive-date=4 September 2009
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090904195421/http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13649050
 | url-status=live
 }}</ref>

A similar problem also arises when elected governments accumulate excessive debts. That can severely reduce the effective margin for later governments.

Both these problems can be moderated by a combination of other measures as 
* strict rules for correct accounting on budget plans and effective public expenditure;
* mandatory assessment by an independent public institution of all budgetary implications of all legislative proposals, before they can be approved;
* mandatory prior assessment of the constitutional coherence of any proposal;
* interdiction of extra-budget expenditure (tax payers anyway have to fund them, sooner or later).

=== Disproportionate disruption ===
Referendums occur occasionally rather than periodically as elections are and they don’t offer the same kind of formal opposition. Because referendums affect for a longer term than legislative deliberation, a turnout and supermajority requirement is necessary to maintain principles of majoritarianism. In republic polities, referendums could be used to bypass legislatures and representatives by the executive body. Zurcher argues that the use of the Nazi referendums was ending turnout requirements to advance intrinsic advantages in an otherwise  slower and more demanding manner to constitutional and policy changes.
<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://academic.oup.com/icon/article/21/1/187/7079631 | doi=10.1093/icon/moad013 | title=The case for supermajority requirements in referendums | date=2023 | last1=Qvortrup | first1=Matt | last2=Trueblood | first2=Leah | journal=International Journal of Constitutional Law | volume=21 | pages=187–204 }}</ref>