Binding the Leviathan? Referendums, Public Policy, and historical institutional analysis

Referendums have tended to be analysed using either case studies or formal models. However, often this leads to narrow ideographic studies without generalizable value, or to abstract studies that miss nuances. Given that historical institutional analysis (in the tradition of Charles Tilly and Theda Skocpol), provides generalizable propositions without compromising empirical richness, it is well suited to probe into the reasons for holding referendums. Hence, this paper proposes a research paradigm for a historical institutional analysis of referendums throughout the modern period 1600-2022.