Download or read book The British Constitution written by Anthony King and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2007 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the latter part of the nineteenth century Walter Bagehot wrote a classic account of the British constitution as it had developed during Queen Victoria's reign. He argued that the late Victorian constitution was not at all what people thought it was. Anthony King argues that the same is true at the beginning of this century. Most people are aware that a series of major constitutional changes has taken place, but few recognize that their cumulative effect has been to change entirely the nature of Britain's constitutional structure. The old constitution has gone. The author insists that the new constitution is a mess, but one that we should probably try to make the best of. The British Constitution is neither a reference book nor a textbook. Like Bagehot's classic, it is written with wit and mordant humour - by someone who is a journalist and political commentator as well as a distinguished academic. The author maintains that, although the new British constitution is a mess, there is no going back now. 'As always', he says, 'nostalgia is a good companion but a bad guide.' Highly charged issues that remain to be settled concern the relations between Scotland and England and the future of the House of Lords. A reformed House of Lords, the author fears, could wind up comprising 'a miscellaneous assemblage of party hacks, political careerists, clapped-out retired or defeated MPs, has-beens, never-were's and never-could-possibly-be's'. The book is a Bagehot for the twenty-first century - the product of a lifetime's reflection on British politics and essential reading for anyone interested in how the British system has changed and how it is likely to change in future
Download or read book The Constitution of England written by Jean Louis de Lolme and published by . This book was released on 1776 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The British Constitution A Very Short Introduction written by Martin Loughlin and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-04-25 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The British constitution is regarded as unique among the constitutions of the world. What are the main characteristics of Britain's peculiar constitutional arrangements? How has the British constitution altered in response to the changing nature of its state - from England, to Britain, to the United Kingdom? What impact has the UK's developing relations with the European Union caused? These are some of the questions that Martin Loughlin addresses in this Very Short Introduction. As a constitution, it is one that has grown organically in response to changes in the economic, political, and social environment, and which is not contained in a single authoritative text. By considering the nature and authority of the current British constitution, and placing it in the context of others, Loughlin considers how the traditional idea of a constitution came to be retained, what problems have been generated as a result of adapting a traditional approach in a modern political world, looking at what the future prospects for the British constitution are. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Download or read book The United Kingdom Constitution written by N. W. Barber and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-30 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume provides an introduction to the United Kingdom's constitution that recognises and embraces its historical, social, political, and legal dimensions. It critically examines the radical changes to the UK constitution that have occurred over the last thirty years, paying particular attention to the revival of the constituent territories of the UK - Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England - and to the increasing role played by the judges in constitutional disputes. The UK constitution is presented as being shaped by a set of constitutional principles, including state sovereignty, separation of powers, democracy, subsidiarity, and the rule of law, principles which set the overall structure of the constitution and inform statutes and the decisions of judges. Adopting a principled approach to the UK constitution allows us to see both the clarity of the constitution's structure and also helps explain its complexities.
Download or read book The Constitution of the United Kingdom written by Peter Leyland (Lecturer in law) and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This acclaimed book provides a topical and contextual outline of the principles, doctrines and institutions that underpin the United Kingdom constitution. The third edition of The Constitution of the United Kingdom has been comprehensively revised and updated to take account of recent constitutional developments and debates. This includes: the revised framework for devolution following the 2014 referendum in Scotland, the constitutional ramifications of the realignment of UK politics reflected in the result of the 2015 general election and the debate over the possible replacement of the Human Rights Act 1998 with a British Bill of Rights. The chapters are written in sufficient detail for anyone coming to the subject for the first time to develop a clear and informed view of how the constitution is arranged and how it operates. The main themes include: discussion of the history, sources and conventions of the constitution; later chapters deal with: constitutional principles, the role of the Crown, Parliament and the electoral system, government and the executive, the constitutional role of courts including the protection of human rights, the territorial distribution of power between central, devolved and local government, and the European Union dimension. In addition, the book offers analysis of the evolution of the uncodified UK constitution, its strengths and perceived weaknesses, and of reforms aimed at its modernisation"--Unedited summary from book cover.
Download or read book The English Constitution written by Walter Bagehot and published by . This book was released on 1872 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A classic study of the British constitution, paying special attention to how Parliament and the monarchy work. The author frequently draws comparisons with the American Constitution, being generally critical of the American system of government.
Download or read book British Government and the Constitution written by Colin Turpin and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-09-01 with total page 910 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This marketing-leading textbook retains the engaging and scholarly approach of previous editions, while bringing the landscape of public law completely up-to-date. With text and materials integrated throughout and an accompanying author blogspot, this textbook is, quite simply, required reading for all students of public law.
Download or read book The British Constitution written by Ivor Jennings and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1967-01-02 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The British Constitution is accepted, in England at least, as the symbol for soundness and reliability: and yet its unwritten mysteries and its practical resilience are the despair of theorists. It is as unexpected as a person, and seems to be defined only by the fact that it lives and works. This 1966 book, then, might be described as a biography by one who has a first-hand knowledge of his subject. It offers ordinary British citizens a reasonable and detached introduction to the system in which they play so large a part; at the same time it provides, for friends and critics overseas, a simple and reliable account of its growth and functioning.
Download or read book A Constitution of the People and How to Achieve It written by Aarif Abraham and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2021-04-30 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Britain does not have a written constitution. It has rather, over centuries, developed a set of miscellaneous conventions, rules, and norms that govern political behavior. By contrast, Bosnia’s constitution was written, quite literally, overnight in a military hanger in Dayton, USA, to conclude a devastating war. By most standards it does not work and is seen to have merely frozen a conflict and all development with it. What might these seemingly unrelated countries be able to teach each other? Britain, racked by recent crises from Brexit to national separatism, may be able to avert long-term political conflict by understanding the pitfalls of writing rigid constitutional rules without popular participation or the cultivation of good political culture. Bosnia, in turn, may be able to thaw its frozen conflict by subjecting parts of its written constitution to amendment, with civic involvement, on a fixed and regular basis; a ’revolving constitution’ to replicate some of that flexibility inherent in the British system. A book not just about Bosnia and Britain; a standard may be set for other plural, multi-ethnic polities to follow.
Download or read book The New British Constitution written by Vernon Bogdanor and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2009-06-03 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The last decade has seen radical changes in the way we are governed. Reforms such as the Human Rights Act and devolution have led to the replacement of one constitutional order by another. This book is the first to describe and analyse Britain's new constitution, asking why it was that the old system, seemingly hallowed by time, came under challenge, and why it is being replaced. The Human Rights Act and the devolution legislation have the character of fundamental law. They in practice limit the rights of Westminster as a sovereign parliament, and establish a constitution which is quasi-federal in nature. The old constitution emphasised the sovereignty of Parliament. The new constitution, by contrast, emphasises the separation of powers, both territorially and at the centre of government. The aim of constitutional reformers has been to improve the quality of government. But the main weakness of the new constitution is that it does little to secure more popular involvement in politics. We are in the process of becoming a constitutional state, but not a popular constitutional state. The next phase of constitutional reform, therefore, is likely to involve the creation of new forms of democratic engagement, so that our constitutional forms come to be more congruent with the social and political forces of the age. The end-point of this piecemeal process might well be a fully codified or written constitution which declares that power stems not from the Queen-in Parliament, but, instead, as in so many constitutions, from `We, the People'. The old British constitution was analysed by Bagehot and Dicey. In this book Vernon Bogdanor charts the significance of what is coming to replace it. The expenses scandal shows up grave defects in the British constitution. Vernon Bogdanor shows how the constitution can be reformed and the political system opened up in`The New British Constitution'.
Download or read book The British Constitution Now written by Ferdinand Mount and published by Random House. This book was released on 2011-12-13 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book the former head of Mrs Thatcher's policy unit looks at the state of the British Constitution at a crucial time in its history, arguing that recent years have seen an increased willingness to monitor itself on the part of the Establishment, but that more audacious reforms are needed to restore full confidence in Parliament, government and the legal system.
Download or read book A Constitution for the Socialist Commonwealth of Great Britain written by Sidney Webb and published by . This book was released on 1920 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book British Government and the Constitution written by Alison L. Young and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-04 with total page 1099 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Places constitutional law in its legal, historical and political context using contemporary examples.
Download or read book The British Constitution Resettled written by Jim McConalogue and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-07-17 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Adopting a political constitutionalist view of the British constitution, this book critically explores the history of legal and political thought on parliamentary sovereignty in the UK. It argues that EU membership strongly unsettled the historical precedents underpinning UK parliamentary sovereignty. Successive governments adopted practices which, although preserving fundamental legal rules, were at odds with past precedents. The author uses three key EU case studies – the financial transactions tax, freedom of movement of persons, and the working time directive – to illustrate that since 1973 the UK incorporated EU institutions which unsettled those precedents. The book further shows that the parliament’s place since the referendum on Brexit in June 2016 and the scrutinising of the terms of the withdrawal agreement constitute an enhanced, new constitutional resettlement, and a realignment of parliament with the historical precedent of consent and its sovereignty.
Download or read book What s Wrong with the British Constitution written by Iain McLean and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A bravura critique of the traditional interpretation of the British constitution. The book demolishes many of the myths surrounding it, but also goes on to suggest a constructive alternative.
Download or read book Beyond Magna Carta written by Andrew Blick and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-04-30 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 800th anniversary of Magna Carta falls in June 2015. In this work Dr Blick argues that this event should be the occasion for a reassessment of the past, present and future of the UK constitution. He draws on his experience as research fellow to the first ever parliamentary inquiry into the possibility of a written constitution for the UK. Dr Blick considers a series of English and UK historical texts from Anglo-Saxon times onwards, among which Magna Carta is the most prominent, which sought to set out arrangements for the governance of England and later the UK as a whole. He argues that they comprise a powerful tradition of written constitutional documents, and stresses the importance of the European dimension to their introduction and content. The author then considers the present nature of the UK constitution, describing the period of immense flux through which it has passed in recent decades, and the implications of this phase of change. Dr Blick identifies a need for a full written constitution for the UK as the next appropriate step. Finally, he discusses the democratic processes suitable to devising such a text, and what its contents might be. 'With this book Andrew Blick has made a major contribution to our understanding of how our system of government has worked in the past, how it is working – or not working – now, and what it could be in the future. Combing the centuries, he challenges many misconceptions and makes a powerful case for a written constitution. This volume is absolutely essential to anyone who wants to appreciate the real meaning of Magna Carta and why we should celebrate it.' Graham Allen MP, Chair, House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee 'Beyond Magna Carta brings together the utility of a road map with the fascination of a changing cartography of political thought – all part of the constitutional development of these islands from the Great Charter of 1215 to the confusing aftermath of the Scottish Referendum of 2014. It is a superb work of explanation capped by intriguing suggestions of future possibilities.' Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield, FBA, Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History, Queen Mary, University of London.
Download or read book Does the United Kingdom Still Have a Constitution written by Anthony Stephen King and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new work, based on the 52nd series of Hamlyn Lectures delivered by Anthony King, one of the UK's leading political commentators, examines the British constitutional tradition and explores where it is now heading. King: describes no fewer than a dozen major constitutional changes that have taken place over the past thirty years; maintains that, although no one seems to have noticed the fact, the traditional British constitution no longer exists; and insists that there is, as yet, no constitutional settlement and that the constitution is still in flux.