Wider research
UNITED KINGDOM
CONSTITUTION
CONSTITUTIONS
'What Is a Constitution?' in The British Constitution (2007) by Anthony King
CODIFICATION
'Towards a Written Constitution?' in The New British Constitution (2009) by Vernon Bogdanor
CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES
The Rule of Law (2010) by Tom Bingham
'Constitutional twin pillars: does parliamentary sovereignty trump the rule of law?' in Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and our Ambiguous Constitution (2020) by Philip Norton
DEMOCRACY
DEMOCRACY
The Shortest History of Democracy (2022) by John Keane
DEMOCRACY IN THE UK
'Assessing democratic quality and renewing the potential for democratic advance' in The UK's Changing Democracy: The 2018 Democratic Audit (2018) by Patrick Dunleavy
'How can we fix our democracy?' (UCL, 23 May 2023) by Alan Renwick
ELECTORAL SYSTEMS
ELECTORAL SYSTEMS
A Citizen's Guide to Electoral Reform (2011) by Alan Renwick
REFORMING FIRST PAST THE POST
'The 2019 General Election: Voters Left Voiceless' (Electoral Reform Society, 2 March 2020)
EUROPEAN UNION
EUROPEAN UNION
'The constitution, the EU and Brexit: who governs?' in Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and our Ambiguous Constitution (2020) by Philip Norton
GROUP POLITICS
GROUP POLITICS
'The Other Black Door' (BBC, 19 September 2022) by Jack Fenwick
JUDICIARY
JUDGES AND THE CONSTITUTION
'The Judges Come Out' in The British Constitution (2007) by Anthony King
'Parliament and the courts: strangers, foes or friends?' in Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and our Ambiguous Constitution (2020) by Philip Norton
JUDICIAL DIVERSITY
'Equality in the judiciary: why should we want more women judges?' (Public Law, 2001) by Brenda Hale
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Explaining Local Government: Local Government in Britain since 1800 (2007) by JA Chandler
'The Ghost of Local Government' in The British Constitution (2007) by Anthony King
ENGLISH DEVOLUTION
'Devolution III' in The New British Constitution (2009) by Vernon Bogdanor
London's Mayor at 20 (2020) edited by Jack Brown, Tony Travers and Richard Brown
'Give Back Control: Realising the potential of England's mayors' (Onward, 2022) by Adam Hawksbee
MEDIA
THE MEDIA AND POLITICS
Elections and Voters in Britain, Elections and Voters in Britain (edition 3, 2012) by David Denver, Christopher Carman and Robert Jones
'The Media' in How Westminster Works... and Why It Doesn't (2023) by Ian Dunt
HOW THE MEDIA WORKS
'Inside the Lobby: Westminster's political journalists' (Politico, 27 May 2022) by Ailbhe Rea
'Through the lens of Twitter: Watching a government collapse in real time' (Politico, 8 July 2022) by Jack Blanchard
'Who really cares what the pundits say?' (Politico, 16 December 2022) by Ailbhe Rea
'The secrets of TV news' (Politico, 3 March 2023) by Aggie Chambre
'The art of the political interview' (Politico, 26 May 2023) by Ailbhe Rea
These five podcasts in the 'Westminster Insider' series give a fantastic insight into various parts of the media: how it works, the good and the bad.POLITICAL PARTIES
IDEOLOGIES
'The vibes theory of politics' (Financial Times, 22 July 2022) by Janan Ganesh
CONSERVATIVE PARTY
'The Problem with the Conservative Party' (Joxley Writes, 8 August 2022) by John Oxley
'The Problem with the Conservative Party Now' (Joxley Writes, 8 August 2023) by John Oxley
These two blog posts discuss the post-Boris Johnson Conservative party from the perspective of a disappointed "right of centre" individual.'No, really. Rishi Sunak is a right-winger' (The Economist, 27 July 2023) by Duncan Robinson
LABOUR PARTY
'Revealed: Full draft policy platform that could form 2024 Labour manifesto' (LabourList, 11 May 2023) by Tom Belger, Morgan Jones and Katie Neame
LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY
'Are the Lib Dems back in the game?' (Prospect, 6 September 2023) by Sam Freedman
REFERENDUMS
REFERENDUMS AND THE UK
'References to the People' in The British Constitution (2007) by Anthony King
'Parliament and referendums: direct or representative democracy?' in Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and our Ambiguous Constitution (2020) by Philip Norton
RIGHTS
HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1998
'The Human Rights Act IV–V' in The New British Constitution (2009) by Vernon Bogdanor
VOTING BEHAVIOUR
MODELS OF VOTING BEHAVIOUR
Elections and Voters in Britain, Elections and Voters in Britain (edition 3, 2012) by David Denver, Christopher Carman and Robert Jones
VOTING IN THE UK
'How the voters voted' (Ipsos, 15 December 2019)
British General Elections Since 1964: Diversity, Dealignment, and Disillusion (edition 2, 2021) by David Denver and Mark Garnett
UK GOVERNMENT
PRIME MINISTERS
'Great British Icons I–III' in The British Constitution (2007) by Anthony King
'The centre cannot hold' in The Blunders of our Governments (2013) by Anthony King and Ivor Crewe
The British Prime Minister in an Age of Upheaval (2021) by Mark Garnett
'King Boris keeps his court guessing' (The Sunday Times, 12 September 2021) by Tim Shipman
'Boris the cat with nine lives has finally been neutered' (The Sunday Times, 9 July 2022) by Tim Shipman
These two articles by the same journalist, in the same newspaper and dated only 10 months apart demonstrate how one Prime Minister (Boris Johnson) can be all-powerful and powerless.'The Power' in How Westminster Works... and Why It Doesn't (2023) by Ian Dunt
OTHERS
'Ministerial responsibility: responsibility for what?' in Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and our Ambiguous Constitution (2020) by Philip Norton
'Cabinet secretaries... and why Sir Humphrey always wins' (Politico, 4 March 2021) by Jack Blanchard
'How special advisers took over Westminster' (Politico, 28 May 2021) by Jack Blanchard
'The Ministers' in How Westminster Works... and Why It Doesn't (2023) by Ian Dunt
'The Treasury' in How Westminster Works... and Why It Doesn't (2023) by Ian Dunt
'The Civil Service' in How Westminster Works... and Why It Doesn't (2023) by Ian Dunt
The fourth chapter (pages 118 to 148) of Ian Dunt's outstanding book discusses the appointment of ministers and what it is like to be a minister, the fifth chapter (pages 149 to 174) discusses the Treasury and the sixth chapter (pages 175 to 200) discusses the civil service (and perhaps runs against the popular conception of it).UK PARLIAMENT
HOUSE OF COMMONS
'Inside the Commons' (BBC, 2015)
'Unrepresentative' in Held in Contempt: What's wrong with the House of Commons? (2022) by Hannah White
BECOMING AN MP
'Getting In' in Why We Get the Wrong Politicians (2018) by Isabel Hardman
'How to become an MP' (Politico, 31 March 2023) by Aggie Chambre
'The Vote' in How Westminster Works... and Why It Doesn't (2023) by Ian Dunt
HOUSE OF LORDS
'Meet the Lords' (BBC, 2017)
Reform of the House of Lords (2017) by Philip Norton
'Ping Pong: Has the House of Lords become a House of opposition?' (Politics Home, 29 May 2022) by Sienna Rodgers
'What's the point of the House of Lords?' (Politico, 24 February 2023) by Ailbhe Rea
'The House of Lords' in How Westminster Works... and Why It Doesn't (2023) by Ian Dunt
ELECTIVE DICTATORSHIP
'Elective Dictatorship' (Dimbleby Lecture, 1976) by Lord Hailsham
'Great British Icons IV–V' in The British Constitution (2007) by Anthony King
'A peripheral parliament' in The Blunders of our Governments (2013) by Anthony King and Ivor Crewe
'A deficit of deliberation' in The Blunders of our Governments (2013) by Anthony King and Ivor Crewe
Chapter 25 (pages 361 to 374) of this book argues that the UK Parliament "might as well not exist". This chapter covers backbenchers and public bill committees, among other topics. Similarly, chapter 27 (pages 385 to 397) argues that there should be more deliberation, perhaps more "veto-players" in UK politics.'The Policy Power of the Westminster Parliament: The “Parliamentary State” and the Empirical Evidence' (Governance, 2016) by Meg Russell and Philip Cowley
'Getting Things Done' in Why We Get the Wrong Politicians (2018) by Isabel Hardman
'Side-lined' in Held in Contempt: What's Wrong with the House of Commons? (2022) by Hannah White
'What's the point of Prime Minister's Questions?' (Politico, 15 July 2022) by Ailbhe Rea
'The Slow Death of Parliamentary Scrutiny' (Politics Home, 15 May 2023) by Alice Lilly
'Members of Parliament' in How Westminster Works... and Why It Doesn't (2023) by Ian Dunt
'The Commons' in How Westminster Works... and Why It Doesn't (2023) by Ian Dunt
'The Law' in How Westminster Works... and Why It Doesn't (2023) by Ian Dunt
The second chapter (pages 60 to 89) of Ian Dunt's outstanding book discusses the whipping mechanism of MPs, the eighth chapter (pages 243 to 280) discusses how well (or not so well) MPs hold the UK Government to account (including, but certainly not limited to, select committees) and the ninth chapter (pages 281 to 207) discusses how much of a say MPs have in the legislative process.The Parliamentary Battle over Brexit (2023) by Meg Russell and Lisa James
RECALL OF MPs ACT 2015
'Recall petitions: process, consequences, and potential reforms' (The Constitution Unit, 11 December 2023) by Tom Fleming
FIXED-TERM PARLIAMENTS ACT 2011
'Fixed-term Parliaments: fixed or not so fixed?' in Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and our Ambiguous Constitution (2020) by Philip Norton