Reforming the Constitution

This collection takes as its subject how and why the British constitution developed during the course of the 20th century. In chapters that analyse in detail the evolution of various aspects of the constitution, this work explores debates about how the constitution ought to operate and the political goods it ought to secure among politicians, jurists and academics. In addition, it looks at the influence of political parties, nationalism, social and economic change, European integration, and the contests in over particular reforms in Parliament, courts, media and on the hustings. This book examines the way and extent to which constitutional practice elsewhere has shaped the debates in Britain - whether the challenges posed by the emission of a colonial empire, developments in the USA and the Commonwealth, or the influence of European practice of devices, such as the European Convention on Human Rights. In the process it provides a comprehensive account of the continual evolution of the British constitutionfrom secrecy to citizenship, and of the way in which this constitution mediated the relationship between the British state and people in the 20th century.

Peter Catterall lectures in history at Queen Mary and Westfield College, London and was Fullbright-Robertson visiting professor of British history at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri 1999-2000. Brian Girvin is senior lecturer in the Department of Politics at the University of Glasgow. Joe Jacob lectures in the Law Department at the London School of Economics. Andre Kaiser is Wissenschaftlicher Assistent (lecturer) in the Department of Political Science at the University of Mannheim. Wolfram Kaiser is Professor of European Studies at the University of Portsmouth and visiting professor at the College of Europe, Bruges. Eugenia Low is currently completing a doctoral thesis at St John's College, Oxford. James Mitchell is Professor of Government at the University of Strathclyde. Elfie Rembold is a Research Fellow at the University of Hanover. Jutta Schwarzkopf is Wissenschaftliche Assistentin (lecturer) in the Department of History at the University of Hanover. Ulrike Walton-Jordan is Manja Leigh Research Fellow at the Centre for German-Jewish Studies at the University of Sussex.