Yes, a democracy needs an informed electorate to function. But it is the electorate's responsibility to keep themselves informed. There will always be fake news, click baits and outright wrong/illegal manoeuvers from someone or the other.
IMHO, if the electorate can't take a few mins to understand what they are voting on, they don't deserve to vote.
> But it is the electorate's responsibility to keep themselves informed.
Is it? Surely this is why we have people we delegate to because most people aren't going to be spending their time trying to keep up with the finer points of macroeconomics within a multicountry trading block as it pertains to tariffs, etc.
Much like I delegate to a doctor when I'm ill - if he gave me the wrong treatment and said "it's your fault, you should be better informed", that would seem a little harsh, no?
I disagree with your analogy. You're equating a highly regulated and complex profession like medicine with unregulated, emotionally charged profession like politics which routinely attracts the worst possible humans to participate (not the voters, but those who contest in elections). Tell me honestly - how much effort and time would it take for a British voter to read up the basics of Brexit, and then take 30 mins to think through it, the day before the vote?
Compare this with cancer or some other problem for which I go to the doctor to - it is not an easy task to understand the nuances of various drugs and treatments. Still, at least some people spend time and learn as much as possible before putting drugs into their bodies. But there is an implicit trust in doctors, because bad doctors don't last long in their profession. But bad politicians? It is almost a given that if a politician isn't a crook to some degree, he/she isn't gonna last long. By this time, the electorate should have learned to view everything that comes out of any politician's mouth with distrust, the opposite of what they (generally) do to a doctor.
Also, one doesn't need to learn the finer points of macroeconomics - Brexit is a bad idea for Britons, from every angle, even without understanding the depth of the issue.
We can blame the politicians all we want - but in the end, we vote for these politicians. Until we keep doing it, what right do we have to complain?
Sadly, any time I have suggested that not everyone is equal and therefore not everyone deserves the same rights in determining circumstances for others, someone has invoked Godwin’s law.
Yes, a democracy needs an informed electorate to function. But it is the electorate's responsibility to keep themselves informed. There will always be fake news, click baits and outright wrong/illegal manoeuvers from someone or the other.
IMHO, if the electorate can't take a few mins to understand what they are voting on, they don't deserve to vote.