Introduction: Studying Brexit’s causes and consequences
| Published date | 01 August 2017 |
| Date | 01 August 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1369148117713481 |
| Subject Matter | Special Issue Introduction |
research-article2017
Special Issue Introduction
The British Journal of Politics and
International Relations
Introduction: Studying Brexit’s
2017, Vol. 19(3) 429 –433
© The Author(s) 2017
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https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148117713481
DOI: 10.1177/1369148117713481
journals.sagepub.com/home/bpi
Daniel Wincott1, John Peterson2
and Alan Convery2
Keywords
Brexit, causes, consequences, European Union, referendum, UK
The choice made by voters in the United Kingdom on 23 June 2016 to leave the European
Union (EU) caused a political earthquake in more ways than one. A profound sense of
surprise or shock at the outcome of the vote was evident on all sides. Many had the sense
of having woken up in a different country, one that had ‘changed utterly’ (Gormley-
Heenan and Aughey, 2017). The choice for Brexit also set off a series of other dramatic
events. The referendum as an event triggered the Brexit process—or processes. During
the first few months after the referendum, that process had already been punctuated by
other surprising political moments and episodes in the United Kingdom, from the resigna-
tion of David Cameron as Prime Minister, by way of subsequent rivalrous infighting
among Prime Ministerial pretenders and Theresa May’s emergence unchallenged as
Cameron’s heir apparent. It also extended to the collapse of power-sharing in Northern
Ireland and a strong snap election showing for Sinn Fein, to calls for a second referendum
on Scottish independence (the first was held in 2014), and to May’s switch from resolute
determination not to cut and run electorally to her announcement on 18 April of a snap
General Election for 8 June 2017. May justified this decision as necessary to give her a
strong mandate to negotiate Brexit.
Brexit presents new, daunting analytical tasks to social and political scientists. This
Special Issue collects articles that contribute to completing these new tasks, across a
range of domestic, comparative and international dimensions. We focus on three broad
areas: the path that led to the referendum; explaining and interpreting the vote for Brexit;
and assessing its consequences.
The path to the referendum
Why did the referendum occur and produce a choice for Brexit? Were the vote and
decision to leave unnecessary and avoidable or, rather, almost inevitable, for example,
1Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
2University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Corresponding author:
Daniel Wincott, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3XQ, UK.
Email: wincottd@cardiff.ac.uk
430
The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 19(3)
as a product of the United Kingdom’s ‘singular political economy’: a non-Euro mem-
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