Brexit: Who is afraid of group attachment? Part II. Democracy: what democracy?

Abstract

Through group thinking and thorough research, this article critically examines the democratic quality of the June 2016 UK referendum on EU membership. The Brexit ‘mandate’ is based on 52% of the voters but just 26% of the UK population. On a rigorous scrutiny, the referendum failed key tests on democratic legitimacy, such as human rights and the definition of the franchise. The UK Referendum Act 2015 excluded 3.3 million settled EU citizens from the franchise, which cast serious doubts: the political and legal status of common EU citizenship conferred by EU Treaties (based on equality and non-discrimination on grounds of nationality) was disregarded by the UK and by the EU. The article concludes that a democracy which intentionally excludes and marginalizes a whole group within its own political community is not legitimate enough.