This House favours the use of referendums as a form of decision-making

Thanks to Opposition for taking this on. I have 48 hours until my exam, so let's make this a good one!Definitions:A referendum is a general vote by the electorate on a single political question which has been referred to them for a direct decision.Decision-making is the process of forming policies, deciding resolutions for political issues, et cetera.I will be arguing principally from a UK perspective, on the grounds that referendums are rare in the UK at present, and thus their use should be encouraged / made more frequent.Opening Statement for the PropositionThe debate focusses on the following scenario. This House is the Government, and it is faced with several issues which it needs to resolve. It must decide how to do so. This House proposes that the Government should make more of these decisions by referendum than previous governments have. We propose that referendums would be used to resolve constitutional issues, moral issues (e.g. euthanasia and abortion), electoral issues (e.g. the voting system) and other such issues - the major, hot-button issues in society which have a long-lasting legacy and are hard to reverse.I will now move on to my first two substantive arguments in favour of the greater use of referendums.Substantive I: Referendums are another avenue for political participationPolitical participation in western democracies is in crisis. Turnout at general elections is falling. People have less and less confidence in their government: not just in those who they have elected but also the very systems which keep the elected in power. People no longer trust representative democracy as much as they used to: they believe that politicians do not have their best interests at heart, and that "they're all the same". The Proposition believes that, in this world where people are disillusioned with politics, there are two things which need to be done to restore this faith. The first is to try to restore faith in the elected - by making them more accountable - but the second method, and the subject of this debate, is by facilitating 'people power' on a larger and more productive scale. Referendums encourage people to participate in the political process as they have a greater impact on the decisions formed by the government as it gives a proposal a public mandate - or not, as the case may be. It is another avenue for people to have their say in major issues. If people are losing faith in representative democracy, then that is obviously a problem, and it is a problem which needs to be dealt with as well. But we should also seek to provide opportunities for people to have a more direct impact on the political landscape, by offering referendums as a participation avenue.Substantive II: They entrench major constitutional changesIn the UK, parliamentary sovereignty dictates that no government can - in theory - bind its successor governments. The use of referendums, however, means that a new government will be unable to reverse a policy which has had huge public support because that policy or decision has a direct mandate from the electorate. An example of this in the UK would be the establishment of regional assemblies serving Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and London; these were policies to which the Conservative Party was opposed in the late 1990s however they would now be unable to reverse these decisions as they have a direct mandate from the public, and they would not want to be seen as taking away these elements of democracy when they have backing from the public. They could, of course, do it anyway; but in effect the use of a referendum has settled the question of devolution in the regions until public opinion swings significantly against it. Therefore, the use of referendums can guarantee the safety of a decision which has popular backing.Summary of the Second Speech for the PropositionWe have demonstrated that the increased use of referendums is necessary to provide another avenue for political participation, and in turn we have shown that we need to introduce more ways for people to have their say because of participation crises ensuing in western democracies. Since people are losing faith in representative democracy, we have shown the need to allow people power. We have also shown that referendums can protect - by convention, thus retaining parliamentary sovereignty - decisions taken by the government which have popular backing. For all of these reasons, we would urge you all to Vote Pro.Over to Opposition to open their case...