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A yes/no referendum without detailing the actual approach to withdrawal is definitely not an election either.


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Ah, the referendum! The non-event?

A non binding referendum is not direct democracy.

But the referendum was just approving that some exit should happen and Parliament should work toward it, with no commitment to any particular approach.

It just means the important votes aren't the referendums; the important votes are the elections.

Explicitly advisory referendums are different to elections.

Given that the Brexit referendum was legally non-binding (unlike an election), the only mechanism needed is political will to ignore the result

Well, it's not a referendum on Brexit or a Britain remain, it's a referendum on EU membership with two options: Remain and Leave.

This is unlike the Scottish independence referendum which was a Yes/No vote on if Scotland should to be independent. It's not specifically about either option this time.

All that said, “Brexit referendum” is a name that's been used. (And if the result goes a certain way, well…)


If it was a referendum or a plebiscite where only 1% of people actually voted, I'd agree, but a poll is hardly the same as an election.

I know there wasn't a referendum but I asked the question to show you that citizens didn't have their say in the matter.

So it isn't a democracy.


Also, the referendum was legally non-binding.

Are there actual polls on the ground? The referendum was obviously biased. If things were not so heated, a non-binding referendum might be the right choice , but this is not going to happen

The referendum was not legally binding.

There won't be a referendum on any particular Brexit deal. The referendum was about an abstract ideal of a Brexit.

I don't know why you felt the need to call me dishonest.

An election is for choosing who you want to defer decision making power to. Often you only agree with some of the things that person intends to do. The headline actions. And even then, you realise that they may not do some of the things they said they would, and will probably do many other things you never even hear about.

A referendum is about answering a specific question. One you have probably never been asked in your life time. And hopefully one where the result will be an actual thing that takes place, e.g Brexit.

I find it hard to believe that concepts such as voter fatigue would apply equally to those two considerably different things.


> neither tyranny

We just ignore ("non-binding") referendums sometimes


Just like products, referendums don't market themselves.

There's the law, the referendum was not binding, and there's politics. It is politically untenable to hold a referendum then to ignore the result.

It's not the outcome, but the referendum itself that's undemocratic. Removing usual safeguards by half the voters is just asking if democracy should be liquidated.

A referendum is about as direct as you can get.
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