It often seems unfair that referendums are used to decide weighty questions of national policy, says Bruno S. Frey. We Swiss know all about this: we have a long history of big decisions made by tiny margins. Switzerland would be part of the European Economic Area had a proposal to join not been defeated in the 1992 referendum, by a margin of just 50.3% to 49.7%. In 2014, we voted to limit immigration – causing uproar in Brussels – by a similarly narrow margin. Last year, a controversial radio and television funding act squeaked through with a majority of just 50.1%. A similarly close result is currently causing political tension in Britain, which is planning a complete break with the EU – voted for by just 51.9% of its population. And in Colombia last week, a peace deal with the guerrilla group Farc was voted down by just 50.2%, a decision that could lead to renewed terrorist violence. No wonder that in these cases, the losers clamour for a new vote. (The Week, 15 October 2016, Bruno S. Frey, Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Zurich).

If we all had populations that were well-informed, educated and able to vote, not in a tribal manner or from the heart, but rationally, then I think referendums could be the last word in democracy. But we don’t live in Greek City States, where everyone knows each other and we don’t even teach civics. We collectively get our information from social media, which is roiling in lies and misrepresentations.

Moreover, Parliament is either sovereign or it is not. Referendums undermine parliamentary rule. But if you are to have referendums there should first, be a rule that insists on a minimum percentage of the population voting before a referendum is deemed constitutional. Secondly, the parliament should be able to review and reject any final settlement after negotiations – I am thinking here of Brexit. If something isn’t done, referendums will simply fuel a growing disillusion with democracy.

So, yes, I vote for Bruno S. Frey (above), and Epicurus, were he presented with the information we have, would probably have agreed.