Whose Mandate is it Anyway? Brexit, the Constitution and the Contestation of Authority

Abstract

Over the past year, a seemingly relentless barrage of Brexit‐related challenges has besieged the British constitution, which together have called into question the legitimacy of the political system. Yet, although it is tempting to regard the decision to hold a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union as precipitating an acute constitutional crisis, this article argues that political and democratic dilemmas arising from Brexit are symptomatic of a wider constitutional malaise, the roots of which extend far beyond 23 June 2016. Flowing out of this, the article contends that the current crisis is one of ‘constitutional myopia’, fuelled by decades of incoherent reforms and a failure to address adequately democratic disengagement; and that the EU referendum and its aftermath have merely exposed the extent to which the foundations of the constitution have been eviscerated.

Constitutionalism and Crisis Narratives in Post-Brexit Politics

“…Similarly, Tuck argues that the UK constitution has helped defuse extremism ‘because its political structures once again permit rather than constrain radical politics’ (Tuck, 2017). This suggests constitutional fluidity allows for a kind of safety valve for political discontent, of which an ad hoc referendum might represent one example (Matthews, 2017). In this perspective, the undefined or free-floating nature of popular sovereignty is not necessarily destabilising, but rather potentially allows for deep political conflict to be successfully absorbed and contained within constitutional politics.…”

“…This seems like a relatively far-reaching demand for depoliticisation or normativisation. For example, Matthews, identifying a wider constitutional crisis predating Brexit, decries the emergence of ‘discretionary spaces’ that create ‘opportunities for competing claims to legitimacy to be advanced’ (Matthews, 2017: 608) – a complaint which seems directed at a rather mundane feature of political life. McHarg similarly refers to the government ‘ playing politics with the constitution’ (McHarg, 2018: 959).…”

Why Was There a Hard Brexit? The British Legislative Party System, Divided Majorities and the Incentives for Factionalism

“…First, it adds to the literature on Brexit, one of the major events in post-war UK politics. The process of securing Brexit has attracted considerable comment, whether the referendum, the UK–EU negotiations, or the parliamentary and legal struggle (Aidt et al, 2021; Clarke et al, 2017; Matthews, 2017; Russell, 2021; Weale, 2017). Second, the article contributes to the understanding of UK executive–legislative relations more broadly (Benedetto and Hix, 2007; Cox, 1987; King, 1976; Russell and Cowley, 2018; Tsebelis, 2002).…”