Good decision making systems are essential for government, public bodies and business. They have been the subject of much research and it has been shown that to be successful any decision making process should have four elements. The first three are diversity, independence and decentralisation with the fourth being a way of aggregating the views of the groups and individuals involved.

For the first element, diversity, to be achieved there needs to be a wide variety of opinions and knowledge in the process. This will produce a variety of solutions to a given problem. This diversity is present in most societies but not within groups such as political parties.

Within groups, including political parties we see a phenomenon known as 'herding'. Herding begins when people unthinkingly imitate or follow the decisions of their peer group. It's not surprising that this happens, we are social animals with an inclination to trust those around us. This doesn't have to be a problem as long as the group recognises that independently minded individuals can be an asset. The more welcoming a group or party is to independence of thought then the wiser the group becomes.

Decentralisation within organisations gives them access to wider experience and specialised knowledge and this is valuable because it promotes diversity and independence of thought. When the collective intelligence of diverse, independent and decentralised groups can be aggregated intelligent solutions to problems emerge. This is what a referendum does.

The possibility that ill-informed, uneducated voters could be easily swayed by charismatic figures is not a fear that can be justified where a well designed I & R system exists. History shows us that power is most likely to be abused when leaders have dictatorial powers. This concentration of power is most easily developed through political parties.

The people of Britain and Wales have the diversity, independence and decentralisation needed to make good decisions, political parties don't. What we don't have and what we need is a way of aggregating our knowledge and experience.

That mechanism exists in the initiative and referendum system.

At the moment people in Wales and Britain have no way of initiating a referendum process but referendums are not unusual here. Elections are referendums. They're referendums that decide which party or parties will form the next government.

The problem is that we can only use our collective wisdom to choose between political parties that themselves don't have the necessary diversity, independence and decentralisation needed to make the good decisions the people of Wales need.