title: The uses and abuses of referendums
abstract: Referendums, especially referendums with constitutional content, are often treated as exceptional acts. They are treated as exceptional in a democratic sense, because they are thought to go beyond the usual democratic processes and institutions. Since referendums are thought to be exceptional in a democratic sense they are treated as exceptional in a constitutional sense too. The political and legal significance attributed to votes in referendums far surpasses that of elections, protests, or vot
journal: Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) (University of Oxford)