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Although referendums have been used for centuries to settle ethnonational conflicts, there had yet been no systematic study or generalized theory concerning their effectiveness until Matt Qvortrup's Referendums and Ethnic Conflict. Qvortrup's study filled the gap with a comparative and empirical analysis of all the referendums held on ethnic and national issues from the French Revolution to the 2012 referendum on statehood for Puerto Rico. Drawing on political theory and descriptive case studies, the scholar created typologies of referendums that are held to endorse secession, redraw disputed borders, legitimize a policy of homogenization, or otherwise manage ethnic or national differences. He considered the circumstances that compel politicians to resort to direct democracy, such as regime change, and the conditions that might exacerbate a violent response. Qvortrup offers a clear-eyed assessment of the problems raised when conflict resolution is sought through referendum as well as the conditions that are likely to lead to peaceful outcomes.This updated and revised edition includes a new introduction bringing the general field to the present, as well as new specific sections on Scotland (2014), Catalonia (2017), and the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom (2016). The original work's political framework now also covers the literature on identity politics, online campaigning, the regulation of social media, and how referendums are used increasingly as populist devices. This edition also updates referendum results through the end of 2020

"The aim of this short book is to understand which countries do well on key indicators and why. After a short philosophical and historical survey of the literature to put the book into context, the Better-Place Index is developed. This is subsequently tested against a number of policy variables, such as levels of taxation, immigration, and democratic institutions, and other measures. The book provides statistical evidence that these factors are correlated with higher scores on the Better Place Index."

Introduction : nationalism, referendums and democracy : independence, recognition and voting / Matt Qvortrup -- The history of ethno-national referendums 1791-2018 / Matt Qvortrup -- Secessionist referendums in international and domestic law / Peter Radan -- Theory of state recognition : a contemporary assessment / Mikulas Fabry -- Phantom referendums in phantom states : meaningless farce or a bridge to reality? / Dahlia Scheindlin -- Legacies of a failed referendum : negotiations to ratify a peace treaty in Cyprus / Erol Kaymak -- Self-determination or the will of the people? : declarations of independence and the paradox of "slien-determined delf-determination" / Aleksandar Pavković.

The referendum : Non basta più -- The world history of referendums, 1400-2018 -- Plebiscites in dictatorships : voting as a signifiant of total control -- The law and politics of independence referendums -- Consociationalism and direct democracy : direct democracy and elite accommodation -- The stupidity of the people or the wisdom of common folks? Direct democracy and better public policies? -- Prediction or prophecy : forecasting the outcome of EU referendums -- Brexit as an inelastic good -- Comparative constitution making : an introduction -- The consent of the governed : the American Revolution and the US Constitution -- Total recall : revocation of electoral mandates -- Final thoughts.

Presents an overview of Rousseau's work from a political science perspective. Was the great theorist of the French Revolution really a conservative? The text argues that the author of "The Social Contract" was a constitutionalist, closer to Montesquieu and Locke than to revolutionaries.

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