Ireland and its Referendums: Why We Have Them, What We Do with Them, How We Conduct Them

Abstract

The referendum is a phenomenon which is on the rise in modern political life in many countries - evolving “from a highly exotic constitutional option to one that is increasingly normalized within constitutional practice” - even as some controversy persists about the merits of its use.

For its opponents, the referendum has always been objectionable as the most majoritarian of policy-making devices, violating the principle that laws ought to be a result of compromises between different groups, and indeed imperilling democracy, “which can only be properly effected through exclusively representative institutions”. Referendums have frequently been considered to be mechanisms of repression: the point has not been lost that they were effectively introduced to modern political life by their use on three occasions by Napoleon Bonaparte and been made considerable use of by various autocrats ever since.

Keywords: Referendum, politics, constitution, policy, democracy