Deliberative Constitutional Referendums in Deeply Divided Societies

Ian O'Flynn, Ron Levy

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    If referendums are not carefully designed and conducted so as to promote moderation, they may undermine deliberation and hence undermine one of the necessary or principal conditions of their own success. Naturally, there is no suggestion here that referendums can solve all the ills that deeply divided societies face or that democracy can be reduced to referendums. Yet, if skilfully and sensitively designed, they can play a crucial role, so long, that is, as ordinary people are made to feel that their views count for something in the process.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)203-238
    JournalUniversity of British Columbia Law Review
    Volume53
    Issue number1
    Publication statusPublished - 2019

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