Abstract
On 23 June 2016 the UK electorate voted to leave the EU, turning David Cameron’s referendum gamble into a great miscalculation. This book analyses the renegotiation that preceded the vote, before examining the campaign itself so as to understand why the government’s strategy for winning foundered. It then evaluates the implications that this decision has for the country’s international relations as well as for its domestic politics. It concludes by reflecting on the political philosophy of Brexit, which is founded on a critique of representative democracy. Yet the use of direct democracy to trigger EU withdrawal leaves the sovereign British people at an impasse. For it is up to the people’s representatives to negotiate the terms of Brexit.
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Glencross, A. (2016). Introduction: The Great Miscalculation. In: Why the UK Voted for Brexit. Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59001-5_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59001-5_1
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Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-59000-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-59001-5
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