Reflections on a referendum [ie UK EU Referendum 2016] (original) (raw)
Related papers
Getting Real about Brexit. Has the British Empire Made a Fool of Itself_.pdf
Abstract: A very useful European habit is stopping the clock during negotiations if it helps to clear logjams. It seems likely that we may very soon be in logjam territory. Stopping the clock and stretching the calendar, perhaps for months rather than days, will give everyone a chance to calm down and reflect carefully, thinking things through. Why not do it that way? Time pressures are artificial and human-made, in this case at least. What is the rush? Brexit is big stuff. Holding more than one referendum on the same issue in fairly quick succession is also business as usual in the EU, a well-established European variant of democratic practice: ask the Danes, the French and the Irish. Why not the British also? They are grown-up enough to handle it. Key words. Brexit, European Union, David Cameron, Theresa May, Tony Blair, British Empire, Russia, Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Eurozone, Lehmann Brothers, Brussels, Labour, Conservatives, International Monetary Fund, Washington Consensus, UKIP, Brexiteers, Momentum, populism.
EUROPEAN BUT NOT EUROPEAN ENOUGH: THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF BREXIT
On 23 June the United Kingdom held a referendum to gauge public support for continued British membership of the European Union with a majority voting in favour of 'Leave'. The causes of 'Brexit' have garnered significant attention from academics and commentators, with many explanations focusing on issues of sovereignty, immigration, fiscal austerity, xenophobia and imperial nostalgia, while others have looked to socio-demographic divides based on age, class and the 'winners and losers of globalisation'. We argue that these explanations fail to answer the key aggregate-level questions of why Britain voted to leave now, rather than at any other time, and why Britain, rather than any other member state, voted to leave. We account for Brexit by showing that Britain was always more Eurosceptic than other member states due, ultimately, to historical reasons that today manifest themselves in uniquely weak micro-level integration and that this tension became increasingly apparent as European integration deepened. We then show how post-2004 immigration mobilised the British working and lower middle class, whose consistent Euroscepticism had, until the referendum, been silenced by the UK's pre-2010 party system's consensus on membership. We end by considering the potential ramifications of the referendum for the future of the UK and the EU.
Why the EU Referendum Will Not be the End of the Story
In this pamphlet the prominent commentator on European affairs, Dr. Tim Oliver, argues that the forthcoming referendum on British membership of the European Union is unlikely to settle the issue in the way anticipated by many commentators. For Dr. Oliver, British membership of the Union is a complex phenomenon that cannot easily be encapsulated in the answer to a single referendum question. The European debate in the United Kingdom has moreover become intertwined with a range of domestic controversies, constitutional, diplomatic and economic. These controversies will continue to be challenging for the United Kingdom, whatever the result of the forthcoming referendum. These continuing controversies could well lead in the medium term to other referendums that may cast doubt on the outcome of the European referendum expected this year.
EU Referendum Analysis 2016: Media, Voters and the Campaign
Featuring 80 contributions from leading UK academics, this publication captures the immediate thoughts and early research insights on the 2016 Referendum on UK Membership of the European Union from the cutting edge of media and politics research. Published 10 days after the election, these contributions are short and accessible. Authors provide authoritative analysis of the campaign, including research findings or new theoretical insights; to bring readers original ways of understanding the referendum and its consequences. Contributions also bring a rich range of disciplinary influences, from political science to fan studies, journalism studies to advertising. We hope this makes for a vibrant and engaging read.
Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 2018
There is a growing narrative that the outcome of the UK referendum on European Union membership was the product of disenfranchisement and disillusionment wrought by the uneven consequences of economic restructuring in different UK regions, cities and communities. Those most likely to vote ‘leave’ were concentrated among those ‘left behind’ by globalisation, whilst those voting ‘remain’ were clustered within more affluent areas and social groups. These uneven geographies of leave and remain voting have been taken to reveal two diametrically opposed groups in British politics, obscuring the messy and contradictory ways in which votes are cast. In seeking to bring these complexities to light, this paper explores the motivating factors behind the Brexit vote amongst older working-class white men in Sunderland, England. The paper shows how economic stagnation and the experience of different forms of marginality led to a nostalgia for times past and a mistrust of political elites amongst this cohort. The paper documents how the feelings expressed by research participants became linked to the EU project and its real and perceived impacts on the local area. In doing so, it shows that the referendum shaped and changed the electorate by asking them to align themselves with those either for or against Britain’s membership of the EU. The paper concludes by reflecting on the possibilities for creating an inclusive form of politics that treats different responses to the referendum question as the basis for an open conversation about democracy and democratic ideals.