Referenda in light of voter ignorance

As mentioned in class, the purpose of many organizations like "Rock the Vote" is to increase the percentage of voters in each election. Other nations around the world attempt to increase voting through mandatory laws or various penalties. This fails to address the concern of voter ignorance, which can be problematic if this prevents citizens from voting in the best interest of themselves or the society. This phenomenon has been brought up recently regarding Brexit, the decision for the United Kingdom to leave the EU. According to the Washington Post and Google Trends, after the referendum top Google searches in the UK included "What does it mean to leave the EU?" and "What is the EU?". This seems to support the idea that some level of voter ignorance existed when voters entered the polls. If citizens are indeed unable to support the side that would benefit them or society the most, one must consider whether our current paradigm is the best.

While no developed country necessarily discourages the public from voting, the extent to which referenda are proposed to the public varies widely between developed nations. This may be a proxy for level of trust a nation has in its voting populace since instead of having elected officials pass legislation, a referendum directly asks the citizens whether a law should be enacted. The U.S. constitution does not include referenda, but state and local governments often use them to decide on contentious issues. Even at these levels of government, it is likely many voters will remain rationally ignorant and still vote. This fact may have contributed to Belgium's former foreign minister saying: "I'm glad that we have no referendums. How for God's sake are you going to explain a complicated thing like the Euro in a yes-and-no question to voters?" While the costs of becoming informed enough to vote in your best interest have decreased due to online information and political parties endorsing stances on issues, it is still unclear to what extent to rely on the populace to make important decisions.

If voters participate in the referenda process because they overvalue the probability of their vote changing the outcome, it may make sense to reduce the number of issues citizens have the chance to vote on. However, if the act of voting and or being able to express one's opinion is a large benefit to a group of citizens such restrictions may reduce the overall utility of the populace even if we assume elected officials will make better decisions given that they are better informed.