How much influence do you believe citizens should have over laws that govern them compared to elected officials?

I don't believe politicians should be given such free reign from an election, but I think it would be reckless to give citizens the final decision on matters that they are not knowledgeable about.

I believe there should be an intensive decentralised (so no manipulative, corrupt or false information can be spread) effort held in both in depth and breadth to correctly and properly educate the people on what decisions xyz will lead to.

Then, the power should be given to the informed people.

I say those in power (who are committed to serving the people's best interests) should have to experience other peoples' perspectives - as power tends to 'corrupt'.

Those in power who are not committed to the people's best interests should not have a say.

Citizens should have complete control over the laws they exist under. Elected officials only represent the interests of their hierarchies. Ideally they don't exist at all. They're faux-democratic.

The population should vote on major policy changes in national referendums.

I believe the UK public has shown they are incapable of self governance and are making a strong case for a totalitarian state with a philosopher king at the top.

They should have the opportunity to give an opinion and influence lawmakers

The dispersal of power created by liberalism is necessary to prevent the abuse of power that centralization inevitably causes through it's checks and balances. With the population size Britain has it is impractical to govern the country to the extent it is from London and the principal of subsidiarity should be respected so that decisions that affect people should be made as close as possible to the people affected by them in a way that reflects the reality of their day-to-day lived experiences.

citizens should be able to make sugestions and vote

Elected officials answer to citizens. They are meant to represent people's perspectives, not to work contrary to their interests and beliefs because they 'know more'.

I don't think the general public should have the final say but public bodies and unions etc should have the chance to respond and make recommendations that the Government look at properly to see if amendments need to be made.

What is the point of electing officials to make laws if you are going to take the law into your own hands anyway?

Citizens should have a say over important laws not minor ones.

A massive amount as laws should always be scrutinised since they aren't always fair and moral. The new Scottish hate crime bill is a prime example of a government forcing something on citizens completely against their will

I think citizens should be elected officials or our governance should be made up of citizens assemblies like jury duty. Fed back up the chain. Much more public consultation should be happening and constituencies should be smaller.

They shoyld have total control over their country.

An election is on a wide array of issues which may misalign with what the public believe on a single issue

They should be given more power to voice their needs if elected government

The official must be elected to represent what his/her constituency believes as a whole, and it is important that as a whole the nation must feel broadly the same about any given issue; if differences exist, they should be treated with at least some sympathy by the opposing side(s).

i believe we should have more freedom to vote as individuals however i feel there should be laws implemented against people who have said certain hate speech rhetorics online

Elected officials are citizens and the elected legislature, in theory, is meant to be a collection of said citizens governing themselves. If this does not happen in practise, then the system isn't fit for purpose and the Constitution needs to be amended to achieve these ends.

More influence, if a law affects them, they should have the biggest say

Citizens should be able to vote on policies we want for our country, and we shouldn't have to constantly protest and be ignored by elected officials.

Less than those elected to make an informed decision

I think there needs to be a balance as elected officials have experience but people need to make their own Decisions

Citizens should have a large say in situations like this, not entirely akin to officials but enough to make their stances matter for decision making.

If elected officials don't act in the interest of the people that elected them the people should not have to wait four years to elect a new party.

a lot of elected officials don't live in the real world, I would say the people that have to live by the laws should have more influence

I believe as a democracy we should be aloud to vote on high impact laws that will affect us

Does this question actually matter, we vote, but ultimately have no control!

I think they should have a say as a small group of politicians don’t reflect the entire population

More than they currently have, but I am not sure how much

Our influence is in our vote, nothing good comes from micro management

Citizens should have a large say in what laws are passed as government is supposed to represent the will of the people

Citizens should have the power to elect people into parliament but let mps make laws that represent the reason they were voted in

They shouldn't make them directly, but there should be some kind of voting system in place for certain laws that will affect everyone

There should be more influence of the general population on all government decisions

Honestly I think we should have parties or meetings from all different backgrounds and all walks of life who represent each type of person within the government. Then those people should fairly take in the peoples votes for each issue and see what is the most pressing, starting there. Ie: Like this test.

citizens should have a say in the rules and laws that are decided for them. it should go to higher ranks after a decision or referendum is decided within the people

It depends on the laws, some require expert knowledge in a certain field, while others just require being human.

Democracy is by the people, for the people- yet within the UK is it increasingly obvious that the people do not have am influence- especially with the passing of bills which seek to limit the autonomy of the public.

Citizens should be able to have a say in what laws govern them and public policy should be Rooted in exactly that (the public) - yet as a citizen I feel even useless when it comes to voting due to the voting system and the law making process in the UK.

I honestly think citizens should have a much larger impact. Elected officials are still a very small percentage and often don't reflect our views.

citizens should have more power. Even if officials are elected, the opinions of millions are ultimately debated by only hundreds.

We should have a proportional voting system that enables us to be better represented in government rather than the tribal party system we have. We should have a separate executive and legislature so that those making the laws are focused on just that, rather than power and prestige.