Is a referendum the essence of democracy?

Apparently early tallies suggest that the Irish people have rejected the Lisbon Treaty in their referendum held yesterday. This information comes in a statement from the Irish Justice Minister, Dermot Ahern. In his comment he uses the phrase "a referendum is the essence of democracy…”

Now I suppose in a very simplistic way one has to agree with him, giving every elector the opportunity to vote yes or no on a particular issue does represent a very fundamental exercise of democracy. However, this presupposes that every elector understands not only the question posed, but also the complex arguments underpinning that question and also understands the consequences of the outcome of that referendum both directly for the citizens of the country holding the referendum and indirectly for other countries and other stakeholders.

The first time I ever voted was in a referendum – it was the referendum on the opening of pubs in Wales on Sundays. In this referendum, I don’t recall any political parties having anything other than the most marginal involvement, the protagonists were the licensees and their lobbyists on the one hand, and the various religious lobby groups on the other. In other words, not only was the issue clear and the question simple, there did not seem to be any opportunity for voters to use their vote to reflect their views on anything other than whether or not pubs in Wales should open on a Sunday.

These days however, referenda seem to be able to be manipulated by lobbyists, usually backed by a rampant press, to exploit the relative lack of sophistication of the majority of voters. The author of the piece on the BBC website states:

“Correspondents say many voters did not understand the treaty despite a high-profile campaign led by Prime Minister Brian Cowen, which had the support of most of the country's main parties.”

Herein lies the problem with modern referenda, voters not understanding the issue and therefore being unable to vote on the issue but on whatever is said about the issue by others who wish to secure a particular result.

So for a referendum to really represent the "essence of democracy", it has to be conducted in circumstances where the voters can be satisfied that they clearly understand the issue and the consequences of the referendum result. If they do not understand the issue or do not fully appreciate the consequences, then the most democratic action is to abstain.