As the current Brexit crisis unfolds within the British democratic system, it is hard to understand how the United Kingdom has ended up in this position. The British Parliament being one of the oldest parliaments in the world, has become paralysed by the burden of fulfilling the 2016 European Union Referendum result. Whilst some might point to the politicians within the system, it is the view of this thesis that the referendum as a tool is the main instigator of the trouble that we now see.
Therefore this thesis uses a qualitative analysis of the historical and present position of referendums within British democracy. It also examines the examples of Canada, Australia and Switzerland to explore the problems that we see within the British parliamentary system. In doing so, it also tries to bring forward solutions to the problems that British democracy faces. However it concludes to the suggestion that British parliamentary democracy without deep reform, cannot and should not use the referendum as a tool within British democracy.
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