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Should I stay or should I go? British voter you got to let me know! Prime Ministers, intra-party conflict, and membership referendums in the British Westminster model

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas König

    (Department of Political Science, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany)

  • Xiao Lu

    (Collaborative Research Center 884, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany)

Abstract

We explain the referendums on British membership of the European Communities and European Union from a principal–agent perspective between the Prime Minister and the rank-and-file. We show that announcing a referendum on the Prime Minister’s membership proposal helps the incumbent party to win the general election when the rank-and-file is divided on the terms of membership. When the Prime Minister overcomes the rank-and-file’s mistrust of her effectiveness in negotiating new membership terms with other member states, the voters are more likely to follow her proposal. However, when intra-party controversies reveal principal–agent problems, the initially uninformed voters can learn about the dysfunctionality of the terms and are more likely to reject the Prime Minister’s proposal.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas König & Xiao Lu, 2020. "Should I stay or should I go? British voter you got to let me know! Prime Ministers, intra-party conflict, and membership referendums in the British Westminster model," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 32(4), pages 557-581, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jothpo:v:32:y:2020:i:4:p:557-581
    DOI: 10.1177/0951629820956273
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