{"id":4341,"date":"2018-04-13T15:50:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T14:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/qpol.qub.ac.uk\/?p=4341"},"modified":"2018-04-13T15:50:00","modified_gmt":"2018-04-13T14:50:00","slug":"future-of-referendums-what-role-should-they-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/qpol\/future-of-referendums-what-role-should-they-play\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future of Referendums: What Role Should They Play and How Should They Be Conducted?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Referendums are now established as part of the UK\u2019s political landscape.  They are widely seen as necessary before some fundamental constitutional changes are made.  Politicians will continue from time to time to find it useful to manage conflicts by proposing to put certain decisions to the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, despite their importance, there has been little concerted thinking recently about how referendums should be conducted.  Two inquiries conducted in the 1990s \u2013 by the Nairne Commission<\/a> and the Committee on Standards in Public Life<\/a> \u2013 led to the creation of some basic rules, laid down in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000<\/a>.  But these rules were always incomplete: for example, they say nothing about who can vote in a referendum.  They are also now two decades old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much has changed in the intervening years \u2013 not least through the rise of the internet and social media.  And four major referendum have been held \u2013 on Welsh devolution (2011), the Westminster voting system (2011), Scottish independence (2014), and EU membership (2016) \u2013 from which lessons can be learned.  Many observers have been dismayed by the conduct of those referendums, whether they agreed with the results or not.  A careful review is overdue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is the task of the Independent Commission on Referendums<\/a>, established by the UCL Constitution Unit to examine the role and conduct of referendums in the UK and consider what changes might be desirable.  Comprising twelve eminent individuals with diverse perspectives on referendums, including current and former parliamentarians, journalists, regulators, and academics, the Commission is due to report in the summer.  Keen to hear diverse views, it is holding seminars in all the UK\u2019s capital cities.  The Belfast seminar<\/a>, co-hosted by Queen\u2019s University, takes place on 26 April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The questions being considered by the Commission include the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n