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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Thinking about Brexit with Cristina Lafont

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In this comment on Cristina Lafont’s new book Democracy without Shortcuts, I apply some of her ideas to the Brexit case in order to show that her identification of problematic shortcuts has significant analytical potential when it comes to understanding contemporary challenges to democracy. I argue that the push for Brexit can be viewed as a response to ‘expertocratic’ shortcuts in European Union decision-making, while David Cameron’s attempt to resolve the conflict once and for all by referendum constituted a ‘proceduralist’ shortcut. I conclude by asking whether Lafont’s suggestion to ‘constitutionalize’ discourses and decisions could also imply seeking a meta-deliberative assessment of democratic institutions.