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Because all these things (Brexit/Trump) wasn't planned to happen, so they're in need of arguments why a fair democratic vote should be invalid. This is what's h

• matthewmacleod 8y ago
  What is a “fair democratic vote”? Is it still fair if it’s a simple majority? Is it still fair if official campaigns break the law? Is it still fair if constituent nations’ views are disregarded? That concept is a hard one to define and precisely why it’s a bad idea to have simple majority referendums on complex technical matters.
  • tathougies 8y ago
    I mean in a direct democracy, a simple majority of a quorum of voters typically counts. Establishing arbitrary criteria for which votes are valid is not a democracy, especially when the various criteria are suddenly proposed after a controversial election.
    • hcknwscommenter 8y ago
      A vote result arising in the context of a great many voters having been persuaded by a sophisticated propaganda attack consisting of lies, misrepresentations, and half-truths, where the attack originated from a foreign power aiming to create chaos and confusion among its enemies is not a fair vote and should not be given the legitimacy that a fair vote deserves.
      • tathougies 8y ago
        So your claim is that people shouldn't be allowed to persuade others to agree with them politically? Don't you see something wrong with that thought?
        • matthewmacleod 8y ago
          That’s obviously not the claim and it’s churlish to imply so. “Fairness” in a democratic system is a pretty messy concept. A “fair” vote might require rules (like controlling spending, foreign influence, and truthfulness), it might require clear criteria and outcomes, or it might require a well-informed population. The UK’s Brexit referendum was a perfect example of how not to run a referendum: - Billed as advisory but clearly not - Electoral laws broken - Shady foreign influence - No definition of what the outcome of one result would be - No success criteria beyond a simple majority (like requiring consent from all constituent countries) - A vote on an extremely technical issue poorly understood by most of the population I imagine this will be used as a textbook example of a terrible political event for decades.