Eulogy for the Constitution That Was
(2014) 12 International Journal of Constitutional Law 468-486
19 Pages Posted: 29 Aug 2014 Last revised: 11 Mar 2015
Date Written: August 6, 2014
Abstract
On the understanding of some, the United Kingdom has no constitution. The absence of a written constitution troubles those who look for certitude in things settled and, with the exception of some so-called constitutional statutes thought now too important to repeal, nothing within the British constitution is settled because everything is liable to change. On this understanding, the United Kingdom has what may be called “politics without a constitution”. On another view, the constitution is to be equated with a program of principles. These principles precede political activity so as to set it to work and cabin politics within a constitution. The United Kingdom has, on this view, a constitution — it is not written, but it is what guides constitutional actors, just as written constitutions in other places and at other times have guided political activity there and then. In this review essay of Martin Loughlin's The British Constitution, I explore whether political activity can be understood not quite as without or within but, in important respects, as the British constitution.
Keywords: British constitution; Martin Loughlin; Oakeshott
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