Last week, the US Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court, making her the first Black woman on the high court. Her confirmation came 140 years after the first Black woman became a lawyer and 83 years after the first Black woman became a judge in the United States. A long overdue first, but a first nonetheless. Historic!

Join us next year in Austin on March 16-18, 2023, for our annual mega-conference: the Global Summit on Constitutionalism. Lectures, panels, workshops on all aspects of constitutions: from design to doctrine, history to politics, sociology to theory, and more. Linda Colley, author of the 2021 IFFC Book of the Year, will give the Keynote Address. And, of course, all guests will be treated to our traditional BBQ dinner. Details soon! In the meantime, check out the archived website for the 2021 Global Summit on Constitutionalism.

Referendums raise a paradox. On the one hand, they can reflect the best traditions of deliberative, innovative, and democracy-enhancing popular decision-making. On the other, they can erode the basic protections of liberal democracy. This new book identifies standards to assess the democratic legitimacy of referendums when we cannot rely on the conventional norms of liberal democracy. The book is structured around three big questions. First, why have referendums on issues of fundamental political importance become so frequent around the world? Second, who are – or who should be – the people that make decisions about a political community's future? And, third, are referendums an effective and reliable mechanism of popular sovereignty?

“Rigorous, comprehensive, and realistic, The Limits and Legitimacy of Referendums is foundational for vital democracy in the decades ahead.” – J. Patrick Boyer, Q.C.; Author of Lawmaking by the People (1982) and Forcing Choice: The Risky Rewards of Referendums (2017) | “A wide-ranging and important work, this collection addresses the challenges of the who, what, and when of referendums, and further outlines a research agenda for those contemplating design.” – Erin F. Delaney, Professor of Law, Northwestern University | “Worthy of close attention by all those interested in democracy and constitutionalism in the modern age.” – Rosalind Dixon, Professor of Law, University of New South Wales | “Essential reading for anyone interested in constitutional amendment or popular participation in public decision-making more broadly.” – Oran Doyle, Research Professor, Institutum Iurisprudentiae Academia Sinica; Professor of Law, Trinity College Dublin | “A first-rate, thoughtfully curated collection of essays concerning one of the most critical questions in contemporary constitutional theory.” – Ran Hirschl, Professor of Government & Earl E. Sheffield Regents Chair in Law, The University of Texas at Austin | “A very important collection by internationally recognized experts at the top of their game.” – Matt Qvortrup, Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Coventry University; Author of Referendums and Ethnic Conflict (2014)