Democracy Between compromise and control

The slogan ‘take back control’ was widely credited as a key factor in the UK’s vote to leave the EU on June 23rd. That vote revealed many cleavages in how we understand our democracy. One significant one lies between understandings of democracy as the control of power by the majority, and a more subtle notion of democracy as the art of compromise. This latter understanding appears to be in retreat throughout the liberal democratic parts of the world, to say nothing of more fragile political environments.