Quote:
Originally Posted by OhReally
Referendum question to the public
"Do you want to restore execution?" YES or NO
Politicians who believe they know better than us brick themselves at what woud happen...
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We have a representative democracy partly so we can appoint people whose job it is to know more than the public about issues they're legislating on. Not everything can or should be put to a public vote.
The problem with putting it to a referendum is that the question will be framed in the way Mick put it earlier: "
What if it were your child that was murdered?". Public policy shouldn't be decided on such visceral emotions. There probably wouldn't be too much reflection on the dangers of the death penalty, the cost of it, the evidence or lack thereof of it's effectiveness as a deterrent.
Anyway the possible popularity of bringing back the death penalty is not a rebuttal of my point. What is right is not necessarily what is the most popular. I could be in a minority of one and still believe the death penalty should remain a thing of the past.