Tan Kin Lian - Perspectives Decide issues through a referendum
In liberal democracies, the people have the right to vote and give power to a politician to represent their interest. The voters vote for a candidate based on the promises made during the campaign and often, the elected politicians do not carry out the promises. The elected politician hold the power to decide on the government policies that will apply to everyone in the country.

This is generally a bad system. The elected politicians generally do not reflect the wishes of the people and are not accountable to the people during their term of office. They might be voted out at the end of the term, but a lot of harm would have occurred. The dishonest politicians might even lie to win another term.

Is there a better way for the people to express their views on specific government policies that affect their lives?

A good system is adopted in Switzerland. Each quarter, the government puts up issues for the citizens to vote on. This is done through a referendum. The results of the referendum are used by the elected politicians to decide on the government policies. This is also called "direct democracy". 

In the past, it is difficult and troublesome to organize a referendum. Nowadays, with the internet, it is easy to organize a referendum and get the views of the people on specific issues that affect their daily lives. 

From time to time, the elected politicians can put up issues and ask the voters to vote on each issue. They can explain the pros and cons of the issue in a video message that can be viewed by the voters, before they cast their vote on the issue. It is not necessary to get every voter to cast a vote. However, every voter should have the right to cast a vote, if they are interested and have an opinion on the issue. It is better to get the votes of the people who are interested in the issue, even though it may represent only a small fraction of the people. 

Tan Kin Lian

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