>>>Wrong.People got no counter-power and cast a blind vote,following only promises.They can choose other parties on the next elections but big parties are the ones the medias talk about and other parties may not be a good choice for other points as well.
When you vote for someone,you are supposed to agree with EVERYTHING he says.Of course it's not the case and moreover politicians have to make compromises with other parties(if they don't have the absolute majority) and the ones leading economics.
Again, wrong. This is why pressure groups exist.
First of all, let's look at the bad points of referendums.
A) From Historical experience, it is a tool that has been used badly.
B) A referendum only allows clear distinction and decision using YES and NO, when sometimes the problem is more complex to be answered like that
C) Referendum is a tool that can be exploited very badly by demagogs who know how to use the Media and take advantage of waves of public histeria
D) The way questions are phrased can manipulate the outcomes.
Referendum is redundant in Modern Democracie, it is too simplistic and easy to take advantage of. And it is also very problematic in multi-National countries like the United States, or countries with a Religious rip and National rip like Israel.
Now let's examine what you said.
People got no counter-power and cast a blind vote,following only promises.
Incorrect. They can set up pressure groups that will attach to a certain party or a certain cause, causing pressure in the Parliament instantly and effectively also in the House of Representatives.
They can choose other parties on the next elections but big parties are the ones the medias talk about and other parties may not be a good choice for other points as well.
In Israel, before each election the Royal Channel broadcasts the Political Programme of each party daily. So all parties are talked about.
Also, every party gets basic funding by the government and parties are not allowed to get funding for their campaign in illegal ways (Law of Party Funding).
When you do not like the programmes of all of the parties, you choose the one closest to you and find people who think similiar to you to:
1. Set up a pressure group OR
2. Set up a new party OR
3. Pressure a specific party or the Parliament using legal methods shortly before the Elections or during the Elections (Similiar to 1, but different in a few aspects)
Of course it's not the case and moreover politicians have to make compromises with other parties(if they don't have the absolute majority) and the ones leading economics.
Voting for a certain party is called a compromise - If you want exact opinions you will need 6 million parties for 6 million people.
So what happens is that people find a common goal and a common perspective and turn it into a new party or a pressure group on the party that is closest to that opinion to actually do something about it in the Parliament and House of Representatives.
>>>They couldn't know about it in advance.
They knew about it while it happened and they could have arranged a fuss and a comitty.
For example, after Sabra and Shatila about 300,000 Israelis protested, causing MASS pressure, resulting in the Kahan Comission, resulting in the disbanding of Sharon and senior IDF commanders.
Still, big issues can be referended by the Government for their own good of not losing power and popularity, but giving the Citizens the power to easily launch referendums is foolish.
Also, don't forget that in Referndums you can only answer YES or NO, and different people have very different interpertations of what YES or NO means in the relation of the question.
It's amusing that you are using the fact that to choose a party you need to agree to all of their opinions as a case, while in a referendum you must decide YES or NO immediately, or your vote is powerless.
Imagine 220 million people, when each of them wants a different phrasing to a very conflicting issue. What, 220 million referendums?
thing I've seen in these forums in a long, long time.
