Public Opinion’s Role in Government

    The Room for Debate Article titled “When Should the People’s Voices Be Trusted?” questioned what role public opinion should play in governing the country, particularly to what extent referendum voting can be relied on. Referendum voting is usually cast in situations where a representative vote may fail given the heavy weighing complexion of policies put into question, especially those wishing to change the constitutional identity of a country. Yet, despite their attempts to more accurately reflect the communal stance, they may fail in doing so at all because of the many ways that the vote can be manipulated to ensure a predetermined outcome. 

     One way the vote can be manipulated is through the nature of the question; complex issues are often raised with the only options being “yes” or “no”. Additionally, the wording of the question can be distorted to confuse voters into voting a certain way. Despite being capable of making good decisions, the public is often deprived of the materials and information necessary to come to a well thought out conclusion, meaning that even in instances of direct democracy, people often do not have a say in governmental affairs. This is especially true given the character of modern public discourse because despite each person being capable of reasoning, modern media has the power to make deeper analysis on certain topics more difficult, and the idea of mainstream media often induces voters to make decisions based on biased information. 

    With this in mind, the usage of referendums is controversial. It may not be any better than representative voting, but may also provide some advantages. The public does not always make the best decisions, but given that their choices are characterized by their morals, their opinions should be respected to an extent. The government stance on certain situations should not be so different if it really functions to serve the desires of the people. Therefore, how much can public opinion be relied on to cast the right decision? Can this type of vote be trusted? Do you believe that modification can occur so that they can be used more frequently or should referendums cease to be used at all?