Ireland: the referendum as a conservative device?

The referendum plays a significant part in the political process in the Republic of Ireland. If referendums are not as frequent as in Switzerland or Italy, they nonetheless occur more often than in most countries. We shall examine the constitutional basis for the holding of referendums in Ireland, outline the history of referendums, examine voting patterns and draw some conclusions about the role that the referendum has played. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.