Referendums in small states

The current issue of the Small States & Territories Journal (Vol. 9, No. 1, May 2026), published by the University of Malta, has a special section on referendums, comprising 13 separate papers.

The abstract in the Guest editorial introduction: Referendums in small states and territories: A comparative analysis by Peter Clegg and Wendy Grenade is reproduced below -`

“This guest editorial introduces a special section exploring the politics of referendums in small states and territories through a comparative lens. While referendums are commonly viewed as decisive instruments of popular sovereignty, the cases assembled here demonstrate that, in small polities, they rarely deliver clear or final resolutions. Drawing principally on examples from Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, the section explores how structural conditions such as economic vulnerability, demographic scale, colonial legacies, and unequal relations with metropolitan powers shape referendum campaigns and outcomes. Contributors demonstrate that referendums often function less as mechanisms of settlement than as iterative moments within longer constitutional trajectories defined by uncertainty, negotiation, and managed ambiguity. Particular attention is paid to referendum design, franchise boundaries, legitimacy, and the emotional and narrative dimensions of campaigning. Taken together, the articles argue that referendums in small states and territories are best understood as contingent, politically embedded processes whose democratic value depends on context, sequencing, and integration within broader constitutional debates.”

One paper is specifically on Jersey – Jersey referendums, governance, tradition and direct democracy by Peter Hargreaves.  The abstract is reproduced below –

“Historically, Jersey’s governance involved Parishes, the Royal Court, and the States, the Island legislature. Three offices were at the heart of the system: the Bailiff (the senior judge and civic head of the Island); Jurats (lay judges); and Constables (responsible for parish administration). Referendums follow a tradition of Petitions to the Crown and direct democracy through Parish Assemblies, both dating from the Middle Ages. After the trauma of German Occupation, with pressure for modernisation, in 1945 a local paper organised an informal postal Poll, which was strongly in favour of change. Four out of five Referendums held between 1865 and 2014, including one in 1947 following the 1945 Poll, focused on proposed changes to governance, a measure of its importance to insiders. However, change to complex, interlocking institutions resulted in delays and compromise, Referendums adopted tactically, their outcome intended, or interpreted, to slow down change and secure the position of Jurats, Constables, and the Bailiff. The States ignored Petitions and calls for Referendums on other matters which it supported, contributing to dissatisfaction and disengagement with a complex political system. The article considers the role, impact, and failings of Referendums in Jersey.”