What's Wrong with the British Constitution?

Contents......Page 6
Preface......Page 8
List of Tables......Page 12
List of Figures......Page 14
List of Abbreviations......Page 15
PART I: THE OLD CONSTITUTION: TWO APPROACHES......Page 16
Introduction......Page 18
1. The English Public Lawyers’ Constitution......Page 32
2. A Fresh Start: Veto Players, Win Sets, and Constitutional Moments......Page 44
PART II: THE CONSTITUTION FROM BELOW......Page 60
3. 1707 and 1800: a Treaty (Mostly) Honoured and a Treaty Broken......Page 62
4. Why Should We Be Beggars with the Ballot in Our Hand?......Page 101
5. The Curious Incident of the Guns in the Night Time......Page 115
Appendix to Chapter 5. How Much Did Bonar Law Know About the Larne Gunrunning?......Page 141
6. The Contradictions of Professor Dicey......Page 143
7. Causes and Consequences of the Unionist Coup d‘État......Page 157
PART III: THE EROSION OF DICEYAN IDEOLOGY......Page 170
8. The Impact of UK Devolution......Page 172
9. The European Union and Other Supranational Entanglements......Page 196
10. Human Rights......Page 216
Appendix to Chapter 10. European Convention on Human Rights and Protocols Adopted by the United Kingdom as of 2008......Page 230
PART IV: THINGS TO LEAVE OUT OF A WRITTEN CONSTITUTION......Page 236
11. Unelected Houses......Page 238
12. Monarchs......Page 266
Appendix to Chapter 12. ‘The Constitutional Position of the Sovereign’: Letters between King George V and Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, Autumn 1913......Page 288
13. Established Churches......Page 300
PART V: THINGS TO PUT IN......Page 326
14. We the People......Page 328
Notes......Page 352
Dramatis personae......Page 366
References......Page 372
B......Page 388
C......Page 389
D......Page 390
F......Page 391
H......Page 392
K......Page 393
M......Page 394
P......Page 395
R......Page 396
S......Page 397
W......Page 398
Y......Page 399