Assess the Arguments in Favor of the Greater Use of Direct Democracy in the Uk

Direct democracy is the purest form of democracy and it is when the people of the state are directly consulted by the government on issues. The people themselves have the the choice and can influence the government. This can be achieved through referendums. One argument for the greater use of direct democracy is that is can increase legitimacy as the government is getting direct consent from the people through such methods such as referendums.

Another reason is that if the government is spit on an issue it can hold a referendum for the people to choose, so the people have a direct influence on government and such examples of this include the AV referendum, and the 1975 EU membership referendum.

Direct democracy not only supports and strengthens positive membership but it also educates people about politics and major political issues.

However there are arguments against the greater use if direct democracy is that some issues can be hard and too complex for some people to understand in politics and referendum such as changing the pounds to euros in GB , and so a overall result might not be valid.

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Also some people might be swayed with emotion and make emotional decisions instead of rational ones, for example pro and anti abortion situations. Also there might be a "voters fatigue" and there might be low turnouts in elections and referendums and so it might lack legitimacy .

For example there was a 34% turnout to whether London should have a mayor and this results lacked legitimacy as the majority did not get involved.

In conclusion I believe that there should be an increase in the greater use of direct democracy in the UK because getting the consent of the people will not only increase political participation and educate the public but certain decisions can be strengthened by the direct consent of the people.