I think that's veering into hyperbole territory. Switzerland have held 180 referendums in the last 20 years and I doubt you'd accuse them of any of the above! 🙂
As ever the criticism should lie with the implementation rather than the theory.
Sure, if majority rule was the only way a country made decisions, then yes it's prone to being hijacked and subverted but that's true of most other forms of government. However, it can also be useful in forcing governments to make decisions they would otherwise be unwilling to make - which is usually the context in which they are deployed.
For instance, the Brexit vote was shambolic but I don't think the decision to hold a referendum was wrong since it was a topic that was dividing the country for a while and either outcome would alienate a large proportion of the country. However, it was organised incredibly poorly with very little preparation being made before hand. Equally, for an example of a referendum that was held successfully, I'd point out the Scottish independence referendum which was well organised and the outcomes were debated beforehand with a relatively clear plan of action in plan - certainly the contrast with what's happening in Spain is stark. In the case of Switzerland, referendums do lead to inconvenient and embarrassing positions - but, from what I gather, it forces them to compromise and come to a more nuanced position after all.
