Brexit and the British Constitution: a Long View

Abstract

The Brexit referendum of 2016 brought a new concept to British politics, namely the ‘people’s will’, one that is seemingly at odds with conventional notions of parliamentary sovereignty, even a threat to its very existence. This article argues that although the device of the referendum is relatively new, the kind of popular control over Parliament and the executive that it invokes has long been a part of British politics. Ranging over 200 years, examples are drawn from the recall and deselection of MPs, mass petitioning campaigns, the role of the Speaker, and the flourishing of independent parties.

Supervision and guarantee of constitutional normativity in a legal system aimed at legal regulation

“…Different judicial bodies may have different interpretations of the same constitutional provision, which may lead to inconsistencies in the implementation of the law. Insufficient awareness of citizens about their constitutional rights and obligations may lead to multiple challenges, such as the weakening of constitutional normativity in social practice [10][11][12].…”