Referendums Around the World
Description
This book provides a comprehensive summary and analysis of all the nationwide referendums since 1793. Referendums are ubiquitous and they are increasingly becoming vehicles for political change - or sometimes vehicles of conservatism. In 2016, for example, the voters in the United Kingdom caused a major upheaval when they voted for leaving the European Union. Later in the same year, a majority of the voters in Colombia rejected a peace plan carefully negotiated by the political elites to end decades of civil war. Were these decisions prudent? Why were these issues submitted to referendums? Why did the majority of voters vote against the governments' recommendations? Have 'the people' had grown tired of the old political class? Was this a new tendency? These are some of the questions addressed in this new edition , which will be compulsory reading for anyone interested in or concerned about populism and democracy.
Reviews / Votes
"This delightful volume reviews the history of referendums around the world dating back to the French Revolution, focusing on one continent per chapter (plus one for Switzerland, which has held 'roughly half of all nationwide referendums in history'); it presents many rich tables of data that detail the outcome of thousands of popular votes. . Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty." (M. R. Michelson, Choice, Vol. 55 (9), May, 2018)More details
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Person
Matt Qvortrup is Professor of Political Science at Coventry University, UK and Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. His other books include Referendums and Ethnic Conflict (2014) and Angela Merkel: Europe's Most Influential Leader (2016).
Content
Introduction: Theory, Practice and History; Matt Qvortrup.- 1. Western Europe; Matt Qvortrup ? .- 2. Switzerland; Uwe Serdült .- 3. Russia, the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe; Ronald J. Hill and Stephen White .- 4. North America and the Caribbean; Todd Donovan .- 5 Latin America; David Altman .- 6. Africa; Norbert Kersting .- 7. Australasia; Matt Qvortrup, Caroline Morris and Masahiro Kobori .- 8. Two Hundred Years of Referendums; Matt Qvortrup .- Appendix A: Nationwide Referendums 1793-2016.