Welsh Journals

against the kind of cross-party co-operation required in referendum campaigning. The campaigns ahead of the Welsh devolution referendum may therefore be considered as a preview of how parties and other interested campaigners may co-operate, and of the kind of problems which may arise. In particular, this paper will focus on how referendum campaigning operates at a local level. Local campaigning is acknowledged to play a small but significant part in determining the results of modern elections, usually working to the benefit of challenger parties (Denver and Hands, 1997; Johnston and Pattie, 1995, 1997; Pattie et al., 1995). Its significance lies in the potential of local campaigning to enable parties to increase awareness, assess levels of support and maximize the turnout of supporters, address local issues and target resources in marginal areas. There is every reason to believe that local campaigning will be equally important in referendum campaigning, not least in raising awareness, mobilizing support and ensuring that the geographical spread of votes meets symbolic goals. However, in conventional elections local campaigning occurs within a framework of a national structure of political parties. Strategies are set nationally and, moreover, local party organizations provide a continuity of campaigning between parliamentary, European and local council elections and the routine delivery of leaflets and newsletters, undertaking of surveys and petitions etc. Local branches also perform recruitment and fund-raising functions for their parties, and are involved in policy-making processes. They have a role beyond that of campaigning in elections (see for example, Ball, 1994; Denver and Hands, 1997; Ingle, 1996; Whiteley et al., 1994). None of these circumstances apply to local campaigning in referendums by ad hoc cross-party groups. As Denver et al. (1998) observe, 'such groups must start from scratch and in the space of a few months acquire a name, recruit personnel, find premises, raise finance, set up a local organization and so on. Political parties already have all of these' (1998: 215-16). Indeed, the experiences of countries with more established traditions of referendums than Britain suggest that there is no easy way to overcome these problems, with the organization of referendum campaigns varying between states and types of poll (Gallagher and Uleri, 1996; O'Mahoney, 1998). At a national scale, three broad models can be identified. Firstly, campaigning may be driven by the existing political parties, either in a formal alliance or independently, as has been common for referendums in Australia, France and Italy (Miles, 1998; Morel, 1996; Uleri, 1996). Secondly, campaigns may be organized by umbrella groups operating independently of political parties but including both party activists and