I remember this post. A very interesting perspective on referendums. I loved the supernatural gifs.
The trade offs could work better than the standard 'Yes' vs 'No' referendums we have. There is at least a possibility of a win-win rather than a win-lose outcome. It might even be possible to model a few hypothetical examples to determine a hypothetical net effort to different groups.
It'd never happen. Those with power don't see any reason to give it up.
Fun to think about though, right?