Até Mais, Lisbon

[Peter Korsten]

Martin Naef schreef:

> Peter Korsten wrote:
>> Referendums suck because they are, almost by definition, a conservative 
>> tool. Safer to vote 'no' if you don't really know what it's about.
> 
> Well, they force the politicians to get off their backsides and go out 
> and *explain* to people what it's all about. It's hard work, but if want 
> a democracy (instead of a competition of who looks best on a poster), 
> there's no way around it.

Which, with the exception of perhaps Switzerland, is not something the 
population or politicians are used to.

What irks me most is that the reasons why the treaties were voted down 
in referendums had little to do with the treaties themselves. In case of 
the Netherlands, national politics were the biggest factor.

- Peter