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Deal or no Deal: Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement and the Politics of (Non‐)Ratification

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  • Benjamin Martill

Abstract

The defeat of Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement in the British Parliament is often ascribed to the prime minister's precarious situation in Parliament and her inability to negotiate a deal that satisfied domestic stakeholders. But the contradictions of Brexit were always going to produce a least‐worst agreement and patterns of support for the deal were largely invariant to changes in its contents. Drawing on the literature on ratification, this article sets out an alternative explanation for the demise of the Withdrawal Agreement. It argues that the government's ability to threaten MPs with a ‘no deal’ outcome placed the executive in a strong position following the referendum, and that the primary source of ratification failure was the breakdown of this ability over the course of the negotiations. This account helps us understand why the government was initially unwilling to seek the support of stakeholders outside of the Conservative Party for its Brexit proposals.

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  • Benjamin Martill, 2021. "Deal or no Deal: Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement and the Politics of (Non‐)Ratification," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(6), pages 1607-1622, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:59:y:2021:i:6:p:1607-1622
    DOI: 10.1111/jcms.13205
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Haftel, Yoram Z. & Thompson, Alexander, 2013. "Delayed Ratification: The Domestic Fate of Bilateral Investment Treaties," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 67(2), pages 355-387, April.
    2. Benjamin Martill & Uta Staiger, 2021. "Negotiating Brexit: The Cultural Sources of British Hard Bargaining," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 261-277, March.
    3. Putnam, Robert D., 1988. "Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 427-460, July.
    4. Daniela Campello & Leany Lemos, 2015. "The non-ratification of bilateral investment treaties in Brazil: a story of conflict in a land of cooperation," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 1055-1086, October.
    5. Staiger, Uta, 2018. "Brexit and Beyond," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9781787352773 edited by Martill, Benjamin, December.
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