This is a book about policy change that focusses on a single case study; the rise and fall of British policy for membership of European institutions. Drawing on post-structuralist discourse theory, it traces the establishment of British identity as a European Member State and the meaning of the country's participation in the block in 1973, to its deterioration through the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, and ending with the eventual failure at the 2016 referendum. Considering the abject state into which the meaning and identity of the pro-European policy had fallen by that time, the book argues that while David Cameron might have lost his June referendum by a slender 1.8% majority, he should have lost by a whole lot more. It will appeal to scholars and students of political theory, public policy, British and European politics.

John S.F. Wright is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Public Policy and Governance, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.