Democracy has been described as the least bad system of government. After all, the “stakeholders” in any country are its electorate and they should be the ones to select the type of policies they want the government to pursue, from the choices outlined in the various political manifestos, of course. This is fine for the broad strokes of democratic life, but as decisions in the UK and Switzerland have shown, the electorate may not chose the path that logic and sound economic choice dictates. This can happen for a very wide range of reasons, but its effects can be profound.

Italy, it could be argued, has had “more democracy” than most with 63 administrations in power since the end of the second world war. The Italians will be asked to decide on constitutional reforms in a referendum to be held before the end of the year. If the vote goes against the wishes of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, he has promised to resign. Renzi wants to restrict the ability of the Senate (upper house) to hold up legislation proposed by the lower house indefinitely; see it consulted less frequently; reduce the number of senators from 315 directly elected to 100 regional mayors and councillors to be appointed or indirectly elected and, critically, to end the Senate’s power to call a vote of no confidence in the government. This, Renzi argues, would reduce the political instability that has gripped the nation since the end of World War II and allow the government of the day to be more effective in dealing with political and economic challenges. The government argues that the move would enable it to streamline the legislative process which is notoriously slow and allow much needed structural reforms. Critics believe that the changes would give too much power to the government of the day, of course.

As seems to be the case with all referenda, the vote is currently split straight down the middle. If the government should fall, the Five Star movement is currently enjoying equal support in the poles and, should it ever be in power, is pledging a referendum on leaving the Euro. It is about time that politicians and political leaders took responsibility for the tasks they are elected to do.