Western Europe

Bogdanor, Vernon

doi:10.1007/978-1-349-25646-4_3

Cited by 48 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…Even if parliamentarians accept the legitimacy of the decisions arrived at via referendums, they repeatedly raise concerns about the legitimacy of the process itself (classified as manipulation issues in our study). This finding is consistent with rationalist/strategic accounts of direct participation, which inter alia find that referendums are used to achieve party-political advantage and not held out of commitment to the principle of popular sovereignty or the belief that citizen participation is of value (Bogdanor 1994;Dür and Mateo 2011;Putnam 1988;Pierson 2000;Butler andRanney 1994, King 2007). It is also in line with recent interpretations of why Prime Minister David Cameron promised a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU, a move perceived less as an endorsement of participatory values by the political elite and more as a political manoeuvre to appease Eurosceptic backbenchers within the Conservative Party (Emerson 2013;Grant 2013;Priestley 2013).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…The literature on direct participation identifies several reasons why governments and political parties commit to holding referendums on EU matters when referendums are not constitutionally required (see Bjørklund 1982;Lijphart 1984;Butler and Ranney 1994;Bogdanor 1994;Closa 2007;Morel 1993Morel , 2001Morel , 2007Schneider and Cederman 1996;Hug 2002Hug , 2004Qvortrup 2002Qvortrup , 2006Tridimas 2007;King 2007;Finke and König 2009;Dür and Matteo 2011). Lijphart, for instance, argues that governments only submit issues to referendums if they are certain that they will win (1984: 204).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How to refuse a vote on the EU? The case against the referendum in the House of Commons (1974–2010)

Bicquelet

Addison

2016

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Under what conditions do politicians oppose referendums especially to decide questions of European integration? Existing literature has identified reasons why governments and political parties pledge to hold non-mandatory referendums to ratify EU treaties or determine a country's participation in the EU project, and some studies have analysed the effect of voter demand and attitudes towards EU referendums. This study examines the positions politicians themselves take towards popular participation in decision-making on the EU. The paper presents a summative content analysis of parliamentary debates in the United Kingdom between 1974 and 2010, tracing MPs' arguments against using referendums to determine the UK's participation in EU integration. Our results indicate that the range of claims made by MPs in the House of Commons against referendums on European matters has narrowed over time, although opposing arguments have continued to fall into the same set of four argumentative strategies. We find that institutional arguments, reflecting a Burkean understanding of representative democracy, consistently predominate over arguments that cite practical, political and manipulation concerns.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to refuse a vote on the EU? The case against the referendum in the House of Commons (1974–2010)

Bicquelet

Addison

2016

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“…1. Governments may use referendums as tactical weapon in strengthening its power (Bogdanor;1994: 31). Governments use non-required votes it in order to strengthen its own position either by attempting to gloss over internal 3.…”

Section: Ratification Through Referendums As Results Of Domestic Tactimentioning

confidence: 99%

The Europeanization of Ratification Procedures: Towards a EU-Wide Constitutional Convention?

Closa

2005

SSRN Journal

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“…Government‐initiated referendums can be either binding or advisory. For example, French government‐initiated referendums are binding whereas in case of British referendums the formal decision‐making power remains with Parliament (see, e.g., Bogdanor (1994: 26–27) for binding and advisory referendums). The results of formally advisory government‐initiated referendums have, however, usually been respected in parliamentary decision making.…”

Section: Institutional Forms Of Referendumsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The second – and more important – problem of accountability arises from the interaction between government‐initiated referendums and parliamentary procedures. When government‐initiated referendums are binding, as in France, they are held in place of parliamentary procedures (Bogdanor 1994: 49–51). This can be regarded as a problem from the deliberative and liberal perspectives emphasizing the capacities and competence of the representatives.…”

Section: Accountability and Responsibility In Government‐initiated Anmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the problems of responsibility and accountability in referendums

Setälä

2006

European J Political Res

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Abstract. Supporters of representative democracy tend to be critical of referendums. They argue that referendums give citizens more responsibility for political decisions than they have either the capacity or the competence to take. Moreover, they argue that referendums may undermine representatives' accountability. In this article, these arguments about responsibility and accountability are analyzed in the light of normative theories of democracy, especially the theory of deliberative democracy. Furthermore, different institutional forms of referendum are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the following aspects: the extent to which governments control the use of referendums, how referendums interact with parliamentary decision making, and whether referendums are advisory or binding. It is argued that sometimes governments indeed use their control over referendums to avoid taking stands on difficult issues. More importantly, however, current forms of government‐initiated referendums tend to weaken the accountability of the representatives, at least when interpreted in terms of liberal and deliberative democracy, and to distort parliamentary deliberations. Since delegation is a necessity in modern democracies, referendums should not undermine the mechanisms of representative democracy. In addition to the issues of citizens' capacity and competence, this viewpoint should be taken into account when designing referendum institutions.

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Western Europe

Cited by 48 publications

References 0 publications

How to refuse a vote on the EU? The case against the referendum in the House of Commons (1974–2010)

How to refuse a vote on the EU? The case against the referendum in the House of Commons (1974–2010)

The Europeanization of Ratification Procedures: Towards a EU-Wide Constitutional Convention?

On the problems of responsibility and accountability in referendums

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