The Interaction of Brexit with the British Political System

This article analyses the process leading up to Brexit within the framework of the political system of the United Kingdom (UK). Within this framework, the main research question of the article is 'to what extend are the factors that led up to the first- and so far the only-case of exiting the European Union (EU) peculiar to the history and the political system of the UK and to what extend can they be generalized for other member states. This article analyses the political history of the UK after the Second World War, the process leading up to the exit referandum and the process until the actual exit from the EU within a process of interaction. Also within this framework, the article identifies the relationship of the UK with both Europe and the rest of the world in its process of re-defining its post-war identity as a declining empire, as well as the UK's reactions to the process of integration in Europe as (so far) unique factors that led the UK towards exiting the Union.