"If four basic conditions are met, a crowd's 'collective intelligence' will produce better outcomes than a small group of experts, Surowiecki says, even if members of the crowd don't know all the facts or choose, individually, to act irrationally. 'Wise crowds' need (1) diversity of opinion; (2) independence of members from one another; (3) decentralization; and (4) a good method for aggregating opinions." —Publisher's Weekly
Well, that argues against Chris Trotter's propaganda somewhat. I reckon a referendum on the question: "Should smacking be banned" might work if we can hold it before mass propaganda advertising from the government and Greens telling us how to think. To this, we add the requirement of at least a 60% turnout to get a good sized crowd.