Direct democracy

A recent Pew Research Centre poll shows that two-thirds of the public support the idea of direct democracy while only a third of foreign policy experts support the idea.

Well, of course those experts wouldn't want to be put out of a job, would they. If we simply asked the public to make all the decisions then we wouldn't need experts - as Gove said we are tired of experts.

Actually, most people trust experts. Quite apart from the obvious ones (plumber, doctor, car mechanic, pharmacist, pundit, engineer,...) people much prefer experts to politicians for information.

So why do so many people like the idea of direct democracy? A system where your punter-in-the-street logs on (or goes to a polling station) and chooses what they prefer. It even has a with-it name - "crowd sourcing". An example is a "Guess my weight" competition - you get very close to the correct answer if you simply ask enough people and take the average.

The problem comes with more complex questions. We all have a rough idea about weight. What if a member of your family is ill - do you put up a notice in the supermarket with a description of the problem and collect votes on the best remedy? Do you count all the votes, including the ones where the voter didn't read much of the description, the ones pushing a particular treatment simply because the voter likes that treatment, the crank votes?

Would you call a public meeting and allow people to give speeches about why their suggested treatment is the best (and allow lies and personal attacks) then ask the people to vote on the best treatment?

If this seems reasonable to you then you would be happy with undiluted direct democracy. If it seems demented then representative democracy would suit you better.

Ironically, the Brexit referendum was neither - it was intended as an opinion poll (technically it was "non binding"). However it was hijacked and became an example of the worst type of 'direct democracy' - where demagogues funded by shadowy figures used fake promises and vague feel-good rhetoric to persuade the electorate to vote a certain way, and then leveraged the vote to push for an outcome that they had denied they wanted.

No wonder no-one wants another referendum - we are still sinking ever deeper into the mess caused by the first one. Instead we want Mrs May to tell us the truth about what is happening and what her plan is. We want to know the real consequences - and for our elected representatives to be given a real choice when the deal is done.