Resolved: In the United States, Public Policy decisions should be made via a Public Referendum

I would say that for the merits of debate, we shouldn't argue that every policy choice is made via referendum, only the major ones. With that, I will begin with the negative case.===Observation: For the educational merits of debate, we should look to the most likely form of a national referendum. The most likely form is similar to the one we saw with the recent "Brexit" referendum; a consecutive, one day, national referendum.===Contention One is Drowning out Minority Voices.The fault with a national vote is that it suppresses minorities. Explanation: The Kaiser Family Foundation finds that 66% of Americans are white. This means that inherently, a Public Referendum will represent the voices of White Americans while shutting down the voices of minority voters. This is problematic, because 6 states, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada, have a racial composition where at least half of the population is non white. In this case, the status quo is better. These minority groups can elect candidates who represent their interests on a national scale, and because candidates are elected by district and/or state, the minorities voices aren't drowned out by the White Majority. This is not just a hypothetical impact either. When analyzing the results of the "Brexit" referendum, we can see that the Leave group won 51.9 to 48.1. However, the thinly populated Scotland voted 62% to remain, with the Remain group winning every single district in Scotland. As a result, NBC news reports that Scotland is now again seeking to politically break away from the UK. There is no reason to expect that this political fracturing won't happen in the United States as well. Not only will racial minorities be ignored, but those who live in smaller states as well. US News explains that a national, one day vote, would have the smaller states mostly ignored while campaigning would center around the larger, more populous states. US News furthers that as a result of the sheer scale of one day voting, the role of money in politics is increased. ====Contention 2 is that Referendums are irresponsible.The Week explains quote: The people of Britain voted to leave the European Union, but they should never have been given that power. Referendums are a manifestation of lazy government — a tool used by responsibility-shirking leaders who want to wriggle their way out of difficult decision-making. Now, a newly severed, internally fractured U.K. Faces years of political and financial instability as it tries to find its feet. It's a spectacular mess, created entirely by British Prime Minister David Cameron. He called the referendum in 2013, not because he believed Britain's EU membership needed to be debated but to shore up his own power base. The prime minister thought he could placate the vocal Euroskeptic wing of his Conservative Party, and woo voters away from the anti-immigration U.K. Independence Party, by announcing a referendum he was confident he could win. But his political gamble backfired, costing Cameron — who headed the Remain campaign — his job and legacy. Britain will pay a much steeper price.And:On the surface, referendums seem like a good thing: Democracy delivered in its purest form. In reality, they're a convenient way for leaders to pass decision-making responsibility back to the public — as and when it suits them.As a result of using referendums, governments lose accountability. The World Bank Explains that government accountability is important because it is used for Evaluating the ongoing effectiveness of public officials or public bodies ensures that they are performing to their full potential, providing value for money in the provision of public services, instilling confidence in the government and being responsive to the community they are meant to be serving. And for these reasons, I am very proud to negate.====Sources:http://kff.org...http://www.bbc.com...http://www.nbcnews.com...http://www.usnews.com...http://theweek.com... http://siteresources.worldbank.org...