In the aftermath of the historic British vote to leave the EU, openDemocracy is asking for our readers' thoughts on Brexit and what needs to happen next in 350 words. We've had an extraordinary response and you can read them all here.
This has to have been the ugliest political campaign seen in Britain for a long time. In flicking two fingers at the political class, the British electorate have inadvertently sent the country into meltdown.
Many in the Leave camp have hailed the result as a victory for democracy. Instead, to me it seems that populism has triumphed at the cost of democracy. Nigel Farage's victory speech said it all: the winners are real, ordinary and decent people, but what are we to make of the other 48% who voted to remain within the European Union? According to his rhetoric we should think of them that as naysayers who lack faith in Britain's ability to succeed outside the EU. The more important question that arises out of this is whether there is any room for these voters in Farage's vision for British democracy.
