Researcher: Dr Joseph Lacey Do divided societies actually benefit from being more democratic? Since the nineteenth century, the dominant view in political theory has been that political systems made up of multiple public spheres, each with different social and political identities are likely to struggle for legitimacy. This, it is argued, leads to poor quality political institutions and ultimately the break-up of the political system through devolution or secession. This tendency is expected to be compounded when the population speak different languages. The European Union demonstrates nearly all of these features. The traditional view would seem to be that it is doomed to failure. The UK’s ‘Brexit’ referendum appears to bear this out, as claims of undemocratic rule and missing …