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Referendums Are Dangerous for Democracy

01.28.20

On 23 June 2016, 33.6 million people and I stepped into polling booths to answer a yes-or-no question that would define the United Kingdom for generations.[1] According to the “Vote Leave” campaign, this was our opportunity to “take back control” and release the country from the unrelenting grip of unelected bureaucrats in Brussels.[2] God forbid, […]

Britain Needs a Uniter Not a Divider as Prime Minister

04.28.17

BY PATRICK WHITE ‘Crush the saboteurs’ proclaimed the Daily Mail newspaper as Prime Minister Theresa May announced that for the fourth time in four years a major national poll would take place in the UK this summer. My concern is that rhetoric like this will only serve to widen further divisions in British society. The […]

Brexit: A Geopolitical Conundrum

07.1.16

BY MATTHEW FLUG After being stoked for years by British politicians, “Euroskepticism” has finally had its moment. Voters in the UK have decided to depart from the European Union (EU) after an once-in-a-lifetime ballot on the Referendum of the United Kingdom Membership of the European Union. This news has reverberated around the world and left in its wake […]

International Relations and Security

Nastiness Toward “Leave” Voters Isn’t Going to Reverse Brexit

06.27.16

BY NYASHA WEINBERG At 3 a.m. on June 24, I lay awake stunned. Results came pouring in confirming that the debunked polls of the previous week were right, and the markets were wrong. The UK was leaving the EU. Alienated voters had let out a collective “roar of rage,” turning their back on Europe and […]

Democracy and Governance

Brexit happened because politicians were not listening

06.24.16

BY PATRICK WHITE Last night as I sat watching the results come in from around the UK on the Brexit referendum, anxiety slowly turned to anger as the votes for leaving the European Union began to pull away from the votes to remain. That anger was not primarily directed at the growing Brexit vote tally. Instead it was directed at the […]

Democracy and Governance

Fear and Loathing on the Brexit Campaign Trail

06.23.16

BY CHARLIE SAMUDA Back in 2013, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, bowing to pressure from within his own party, announced plans to hold a vote on Britain’s membership of the European Union (EU). The short-term consequence has been an emotional and often ugly campaign, which comes to an end today—voting closes in just a few […]

Democracy and Governance

The Poor Quality of Debate Over Brexit Reveals A Failure of Political Leadership

06.21.16

BY PATRICK WHITE On Thursday June 23 voters in the United Kingdom will finally vote on Brexit—whether the United Kingdom should leave or remain a member of the European Union. The campaign has come a very long way since Prime Minister David Cameron was forced to include a referendum pledge in the Conservative Party manifesto for the […]

Politics

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