How do the concepts of democratic accountability and government stability complement and stand in tension with one another in the United Kingdom’s parliamentary system? How do these interactions affect parliamentarianism? In this report, Binendri … [Read more...] about Semi-Presidentialisation and Executive Accountability: A Cautionary Tale from Sri Lanka to the UK
Second Report from the United Kingdom Constitution Monitoring Group The second report from the UK Constitution Monitoring Group (UKCMG) covers the six-month period from 1 July to 31 December 2021. It analyses legislation, decisions and events … [Read more...] about The Constitution in Review 2
A highly topical research paper on Referendums and the Constitution by The Constitution Society, focusing on the use of referendums in the United Kingdom (UK). The June 2016 referendum on European Union membership lies at the centre of one of the … [Read more...] about Referendums and the Constitution
Text of Nat le Roux’s presentation on Parliamentary Sovereignty at the McDougall Trust workshop, 9th November 2016: The governing norm of our constitution is the principle of Parliamentary Sovereignty, which means that Parliament is the supreme … [Read more...] about Is there a tension between Parliamentary Democracy and referendums?
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Reform, Decentralisation and Devolution in the UK has published its paper 'A Parliament for Reform 2015-2020' The paper includes the following proposed wording for inclusion in the manifestos of all parties at … [Read more...] about A United Kingdom Constitutional Convention
A paper by David R. Howarth (University of Cambridge) and Shona Wilson Stark (Christ's College, Cambridge) is available online. It breaks new ground in its assessment of the British constitution. Using interviews with senior UK officials about their … [Read more...] about The Reality of the British Constitution
Democratic legitimacy and the concentration of power Diagnosing the problem There is a very widespread view in Britain that our political culture is dysfunctional. According to the survey carried out for the Hansard Society’s 2013 Audit of … [Read more...] about Unconstitutional Democracy?
The latest meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the British Constitution was honoured to have as its main speaker, Sir John Elvidge, former Permanent Secretary to the Scottish government 2003 - 2010. Sir John opened the discussion of the … [Read more...] about Sir John Elvidge APPG Meeting On Scottish Referendum
The Constitution Society provides organisational and secretarial support for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the British Constitution, chaired by Lord Norton of Louth. The Group works to broaden legislators’ knowledge base and improve the … [Read more...] about APPG Constitutional Developments Under the Coalition – Podcast
This archive item is a window onto issues as they appeared at the time. It contains facts and opinions which may have been superseded by subsequent events. The latest Coalition fall-out over Lord’s reform has highlighted the way in which … [Read more...] about How not to ‘do’ constitutional reform
[First Published on Wednesday 18th May 2011] The following post was first published on ConSoc’s previous site. It is recorded here as a window onto issues as they were at the time. For more up to date news on the Constitution and Constitutional … [Read more...] about The Constitution Society’s Evidence to the Lords Constitution Committee
[First Published on Tuesday 25th January 2011] This archive item is a window onto issues as they appeared at the time. It contains facts and opinions which may have been superseded by subsequent events. The Cabinet Manual proved to be a fertile … [Read more...] about Uncertain implications of the Cabinet Manual
