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international

Referendum turnout at a record low

Willem van Ewijk,
16 december 2016 - 16:34

Turnout was at a record low for the referendum for increased democratisation of the University of Amsterdam with only twelve per cent of students going to the ballot box. Turnout among employees was 38 per cent.

Employees of AMC and UvA Holding still have until December 18 to cast their votes and so for now, any results provided by Ruigrok, the market research agency to organise the referendum, are only preliminary. The turnout among students was, however, markedly low; even lower than for the election for the university’s students council, an annual event that only ever attracts about twenty per cent of the student electorate year.

‘Voting really required you to make an effort.’

Satisfied

Nevertheless, initiator of the referendum and chairman of the Committee on Democratisation & Decentralisation, Lisa Westerveld, is satisfied with the turnout. ‘Voting really required you to make an effort,’ she says. And if you take into account the complexity of the issue, the low turnout should not surprise anyone, she says. 

 

Securing a big turnout was not what the committee was after, anyway. ‘If that was our goal, we would have proposed simple yes / no questions,’ Westerveld says. ‘It was our job to give everyone the opportunity to speak out on our proposals.’

 

Models

During the referendum, students and employees could vote for four models of governance for the university as proposed by the Committee on Democratisation & Decentralisation that was appointed by the Board of Directors shortly after the student protests that enveloped the university one and a half years ago. The committee had attributed a colour label to each.

 

The so called blue model represents the least amount of reform. Instead, it calls for quick fixes such as giving more administrative assistance to student councils in order to help improve democratic legitimisation of the university’s governance structure.

 

In the orange model, the Board of Directors would still be in a position to take the most important decisions but students and work councils would have more co-decision power.

 

The yellow model is referred to as ‘the participative university’. Staff and students would be responsible for the organisation of education and research activities. It provides for a form of self governance for faculties and research departments.

 

The green model is the most drastic proposal, and is the one supported by most of the activist groups that were involved in the occupation of the Maagdenhuis last year. According to this model, students and employees will decide on all rules and policy via elected managers and directors.

‘A high turnout could improve the legitimacy of the referendum.’

Implementation

Which of the four models received the most support will be announced when all employees have voted, although it is not yet clear whether or not the Board of Directors will implement the outcome of the referendum. ‘A high turnout could improve the legitimacy of the referendum,’ the president of the Board of Directors Geert ten Dam said last week in Folia Live.

 

Ten Dam made clear that she believes that the goal of the referendum is to enable students and employees to be involved in the decision making process and that this will have already been achieved by the referendum taking place, regardless of whether the board accepts the outcome or not.