Government by Referendum

Matt Qvortrup is Professor of Political Science at Coventry University and James Walston Chair of International Relations at the American University of Rome

'Referendums are increasingly capturing the headlines. Not always for good reasons. While the referendum might have a place as a constitutional safe-guard, Professor Matt Qvortrup’s outstanding analysis shows that they can be dangerous when politicians call them for selfish and tactical reasons'.Arend Lijphart, University of California, San Diego, Author of Patterns of Democracy and former President of the American Political Science Association‘Government by Referendum… is full of interesting information and thought-provoking observations.’Chris Stafford, LSE Review of Books

• Introduction1. The world history of referendums 2. The history of the referendum in Britain3. Brexit campaign: the anatomy of a bitter divorce battle4. The myth of populist referendumsConcluding unscientific postscriptFurther readingReferencesIndex