I think that the take-away from this affair is that we're not being governed by people, we are being governed by an institution, parliament. That institution i

I think that the take-away from this affair is that we're not being governed by people, we are being governed by an institution, parliament. That institution is made up of other institutions, referendums, votes, political parties... In any case, the key institution for brexit was referendum. It was a particularly broken example of it too. First, the whole UK referendum thing is broken because they're not legally binding which means they don't end a debate. Second, both major political parties opposed it. This means Brexit was handed to a parliament (and pm) who didn't support it, to implement. Third, it's not something the UK is used to, referendums are a quirky rarity. ... This led to spectacle. 2 party politics also plays a bad role. May was stuck trying to get agreement from populists, extremists from her own party and the DUP.. She could have gone to her opposition instead, but it would have harmed the Tories politically. The recurring pathologies of democracy and nationalism are something we're used to. Obviously the proponents piled on the merits of Brexit and dismissed the opposite. They always do that. Anyway, it's the institutions failing. ..and I'm not sure they're failing, it's just taking forever. The only impossible thing about Brexit was northern Ireland, at least within the "red lines." The peace there was premised on the EU making sovereignty unimportant.