Referendums We praise our democracy because it gives power to the people. Referendums are a democratic way to exert this power. But is this true? Let's assume that there are 2 issues: A and B. Referendums are held for both. In the chart below the population is imaged as a stretched rectangle. We notice that in both cases A and B , 66% of the population votes YES so both proposals are accepted. We notice that there are no people that reject both proposals A and B. Now assume that A and B were combined in one referendum, so it is only possible to vote for A and B combined. If voters rejection is stronger than their approval, both proposals A and B are rejected! Now, what is the "will of the people"? This clearly shows that the outcome of a referendum may be strongly influenced by the way proposals are formulated.