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This book, published at the time of the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, considers a series of historical documents from Anglo-Saxon times onwards which sought to set out arrangements for the governance of England and later the UK as a whole.
List of contents
1. Introduction
The ‘ Vow ’
Constitutional Perceptions
PART I: The Written Constitutional Tradition
2. Before Magna Carta: Early Law Codes and Charters
The Ethelbert Law Code
Anglo-Saxon Codes After Ethelbert
Post-Conquest Texts
3. Magna Carta: The Life, Death and Afterlife of a Text
The Magna Carta Moment
The 1215 Text
Magna Carta After 1215
The Global Status of Magna Carta
4. Revolutionary Century
The Petition of Right 1628
Blueprints: The Army and the Levellers
Constitutions Under Cromwell
The Bill of Rights 1689
The Act of Settlement 1701: Alternative Constitutional Model ?
5. Union and Parliament
The Creation of a Union
Great Britain and Ireland
Albert Venn Dicey and Parliamentary Sovereignty
The Parliament Act 1911
PART II: A System in Turmoil
6. The Dynamic Constitution
Constitution and Society
Parliament
The Civil Service
The Process of Change
7. European Integration and its Consequences on and the UK Constitution
The European Communities Act 1972
The Rise of the Referendum: 1975 to the Present
The Fracturing of Collective Responsibility
8. The Multination State
Devolution and its Implications
England Left Behind
Local Government in England
The English Question
9. The Rule of Law, Human Rights and Constitutional Conflict
The Rule of Law in the United Kingdom
The Human Rights Act
Protected Rights, their Limitations and their Impact
A Clash of Models
10. Direction of Travel
Codifying Convention and Limiting the Royal Prerogative
A New Model ?
A Written Constitution: Proposals and Drafts
Practical Steps: Gordon Brown and Beyond
PART III: A Constitution for the United Kingdom
11. Advocating and Creating a Written Constitution
The Positive Case for a Written Constitution
The Negative Case for a Written Constitution
Creating a Constitution
Preparatory Steps and Composition of a Convention
Remit, Working Methods and Ratification of the Text
12. The Constitution
Presentation, Writing Style and Preamble
A Federal Union
The UK Executive
Parliament After Sovereignty
The Composition of Parliament
Electing Parliament
Parliament and Accountability
Fundamental Rights
The Courts, the Legal System and Constitutional Review
Changing the Constitution
13. Conclusion
About the author
Andrew Blick is Lecturer in Politics and Contemporary History at King's College London.
Summary
This book, published at the time of the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, considers a series of historical documents from Anglo-Saxon times onwards which sought to set out arrangements for the governance of England and later the UK as a whole.
Additional text
I recommend this book to all with an interest in British and Canadian history, political science or constitutional law.
