The British Constitution, Martin Loughlin
The British Constitution, Martin Loughlin
List: $12.99 | Sale: $9.10
Club: $6.49

The British Constitution
A Very Short Introduction, Second Edition

Author: Martin Loughlin

Narrator: Michael Langan

Unabridged: 4 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/26/2023


Synopsis

The British constitution is regarded as unique among the constitutions of the world. What are the main characteristics of Britain's peculiar constitutional arrangements? How has the British constitution altered in response to the changing nature of its state—from England, to Britain, to the United Kingdom? What impact has the UK's developing relations with the European Union caused?

These are some of the questions that Martin Loughlin addresses in this Very Short Introduction. As a constitution, it is one that has grown organically in response to changes in the economic, political, and social environment, and which is not contained in a single authoritative text. By considering the nature and authority of the current British constitution, and placing it in the context of others, Loughlin considers how the traditional idea of a constitution came to be retained, what problems have been generated as a result of adapting a traditional approach in a modern political world, looking at what the future prospects for the British constitution are.

In this new edition of the Very Short Introduction, Loughlin includes a discussion of the impact of developments over the decade since its first publication, examining Brexit, the Scottish independence referendum of 2014, and the settlement in Northern Ireland.

About Martin Loughlin

Martin Loughlin is professor of public law at the London School of Economics & Political Science. A fellow of the British Academy, he is series editor of Oxford Constitutional Theory and his books include Against Constitutionalism, Political Jurisprudence, Foundations of Public Law, and The Idea of Public Law.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Valerie on June 18, 2021

Not that this was ALL horrible, but it was soooo boring & I didn’t like the tone and worst of all, I had no baseline knowledge going in, which I don’t think the author assumed. I needed a really straightforward intro and instead he just jumped in......more

Goodreads review by Nick on April 16, 2016

Another excellent book from the OUP's Very Short Introduction Series. Loughlin does his best to give a clear description of the British Constitution - which is no easy task! The book concludes: so we end as we began, not with answers but with a new set of questions. Certainly, if you were hoping to ha......more

Goodreads review by Jacob on January 03, 2018

This book is great stuff. The British Constitution is fascinating simply because it is a great accretion of authorities rather than one document. So to learn about the British Constitution is to learn the stories of British government rather than look at a code or statute book. After all, as the boo......more

Goodreads review by Tony on April 02, 2022

This is an excellent introduction to The British Constitution, although it was published before we left the EU so there is a whole new book that needs to be written, especially since the current government seems to take a very odd view of 'the rule of law', which gets mentioned a lot. It does a great......more

Goodreads review by Mike on January 17, 2018

Covers the roadmap of how the unwritten British constitution has moved (progressed would be incorrect) from being somewhat understandable in the mid 19th century to what could be described as somewhat of a jumble today. Possibly there are some topics that are too convoluted for a short introduction.......more