Tech & Rights

Watch: Dutch Decision to Abolish Referenda Is Bad News for Democracy

To avoid future embarrassment, the Dutch government has decided to abolish citizen-initiated referenda. Will other countries follow suit and limit the voice of the people?

by LibertiesEU

In March, the Netherlands held a referendum on a new security law supported by the government and many political parties. But Dutch voters rejected the law, which would have given the country's spy agencies the power to carry out mass surveillance, though a citizen-initiated referendum.

Politicians don't like to be embarrassed, and they'll avoid it even if it means stifling democracy and silencing the voice of the people.

In response to the March referendum result, the Dutch government decided it had had enough and said it would abolish citizen-initiated referenda entirely — making it the first democracy to do so since 1928.

Watch and find out why referenda are a crucial part of participatory democracy, and why the Dutch government's decision should have the rest of Europe worried.

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