Political systems Conducting a referendum in a cost effective way
1. I like the referendum system used in Switzerland. The citizens are asked to vote on specific issue. The results are used by their Parliament to decide on passing laws or by the government to take policy decisions (on economy, financial, social issues).

2. It is costly to hold a regular referendum in the traditional way. However, using digital technology, the cost can be reduced as follows;

a) For each issue to be voted, post in a website a few videos (not exceeding 10 mins) for different experts to argue for or against the issue.

b) Citizens are allowed to vote if they have watched the videos. This may take 1 hour or 2 hours.

c) If the number of votes comprise of over 5% of the population, the results can be considered to be credible.

3. This method has the following advantage:

a) The voting is done by citizens who are informed and interested in the topic.

b) The cost of educating the voters and collecting the votes is low, compared to traditional methods.

Tan Kin Lian

Add Comment

---