media release

27 August 2009

Law Makers Need To Act In Our Best Interests

“In cases like the recent referendum on smacking, the Government is not obliged to do whatever the majority says,” according to Richard Ekins, lecturer at Auckland University. “While it is common to think that MPs act wrongly just because they depart from what the majority want, this is not the case. The goal of government is to do what’s in our best interests—to secure the common good, rather than simply to reflect the views of the people.  It is Parliament’s duty to think carefully and to use its own judgement about the laws it passes,” says Ekins.

“Referenda do indicate the views of the New Zealand people and can point to what is right. Because of this, they warrant Parliament reconsidering the issue, but they are effectively a petition, responding to a general question and it is still Parliament’s job to think intelligently about whether to change the law,” says Richard Ekins.

“This is what representative democracy is all about, and it is far superior to direct democracy, which assumes governments should simply turn majority votes into law.”

“Direct popular control over the law is fair in a sense, but it is not oriented to what is good for the whole community. The electorate is made up of individual voters with very different priorities. Parliament in contrast has the job of deliberating and legislating in the interests of the nation as a whole,” says Richard Ekins.

Richard Ekins will be delivering an address on behalf of Maxim Institute tonight, in which he will explore these issues, outlining the value of representative democracy and showing that it is not a “second-best” alternative to direct democracy.

ENDS

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