Constitutional Referendums in Ireland: Sovereignty, Democracy, and Popular Engagement

Abstract

This thesis examines the success of constitutional referendums in Ireland. The central research question of this thesis is are Irish referendums successful, and in what way can they be successful? I argue that Irish referendums have been successful where democratic engagement has been maximised, and I establish a set of criteria for measuring that success: information sufficiency, engagement, and citizen participation. Those criteria provide a blueprint for how Irish referendums should be designed so as to maximise their democratic potential. I also argue that various institutions have played a central role in achieving these criteria, including the Referendum/Electoral Commission and deliberative institutions like the 2012 Convention on the Constitution and the Citizens' Assemblies. I argue that the design of those institutions has a significant bearing on their impact on the referendum. In the final two chapters of this thesis, I analyse the case-law on referendums in Ireland and identify popular sovereignty and strong notions of democracy as the principal values underlying the adoption of the referendum. Building on this, I argue that the best conception of the referendum's value is as a method of balancing the competing interests of constitutionalism and democracy. I argue that the value of Irish referendums should be measured according to that purpose.

While it has become a familiar feature of Irish democracy, internationally there is a considerable degree of anxiety about the use of referendums to amend constitutions. For some, it is a device which leads inevitably to populist backsliding and majoritarian tyranny. For others, it is open to manipulation by political elites and cannot live up to its promise as a democratic device. Despite this, Ireland continues to use the referendum, and in recent years has garnered much international acclaim as emblematic of how referendums can work well. This thesis shows how some Irish referendums have been successful, and therefore offers lessons for how their democratic potential can be realised.