The British Constitution

Author: Anthony King
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199232321
Published In: November 2007
Format: Hardback , 448 pages
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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A major new work by one of the UK's leading political analysts
Lucidly and accessibly written
Provocative and insightful
Essential reading for anyone interested in the future of British political life
A Bagehot for the 21st Century

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 major constitutional changes have 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 can 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, while 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.' Far from shying away from the thorniest issues facing the British polity today, the author grapples with them head on. He offers a trenchant analysis of the increasingly divergent relationship between England, Scotland and Wales in the light of devolution and a devastating critique of an all-elected House of Lords, whose benches, the author fears, risk being adorned by '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.

Readership: Scholars and students of political science, British politics, constitutional law, and political history. Also politicians and political journalists and anyone with an interest in British political life.

1: What Is a 'Constitution'?

2: The Canonical Sextet

3: Britain's Traditional Constitution

4: The Impetus to Change

5: Britain's Near Abroad

6: The Judges Come Out

7: The Ghost of Local Government

8: John Bull's Other Lands

9: Mandarins as Managers

10: Democracy Rampant

11: References to the People

12: Their Lordships