Tag: Stephen Tierney
It would be a democratic travesty for Brexit not to be accepted simply because many of us don’t like it
The result of the referendum on the UK’s continued membership of the European Union has upset a great number of people, and some have suggested that the result should not be accepted. Here, Stephen Tierney asks ‘how democratic was the Brexit vote?’ and concludes that to not accept the result would constitute a democratic outrage. […]
The Smith Commission, federalism, or independence: Can the Union survive the election?
Not only could federalism work for Britain, it may be the only constitutional system which can now hold the country together. The real obstacle is that such a solution does not appear to be in the political interests of either of the two solitudes which ‘won’ the election, writes Stephen Tierney. Similar PostsThe Scottish Government’s […]
The vow delivered? Experts respond to the publication of the Smith Commission’s recommendations
The Smith Commission, the body tasked with recommending reforms to the governance of Scotland recently released its final report. Democratic Audit asked Scottish constitutional and political experts John Curtice, Katie Boyle and Stephen Tierney, and Sionaidh Douglas-Scott to respond. (Part 1 can be found here). Similar PostsTo appreciate the importance of the Brexit referendum, we must […]
Europe is entering the ‘age of the referendum’, but there is nothing to fear for European democracy if referendums are properly regulated
Referendums have become increasingly common occurrences in European states in recent decades. Stephen Tierney writes on some of the potential benefits and dangers of using referendums to solve key constitutional questions. He writes that while referendums can undermine democracy if used incorrectly, they generally suffer from problems of practice rather than principle and these problems […]
Scotland’s draft interim constitution: clear-sighted and sensible, or an SNP power-play?
The Scottish Government recently published The Scottish Independence Bill: A Consultation on an Interim Constitution for Scotland, the document which would form the basis of the constitutional arrangements for Scotland in the event of a ‘Yes’ vote in the forthcoming independence referendum. Democratic Audit asked expert constitutional thinkers to give their views on whether the […]
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