The English Constitution

The English Constitution offers both an English solution to the constitutional question and a constitutional solution to the English question.

The book ties together two conversations at the heart of constitutional politics in the United Kingdom today. One is the discussion about the decline and disintegration of the British constitution, and about the prospects for constitutional restoration and reform. The other is the conversation about the condition of England: English national identity, the revival of English nationalism, English devolution, and the possible unravelling of the United Kingdom.

Drawing upon the author's practical experience of providing technical support to constitutional review processes in many Commonwealth countries, the book sets out a written constitution applying the principles of Westminster Model constitutionalism to an English context.

A written constitution is presented as neither a radical innovation nor as a panacea, but as a practical and pragmatic solution to deep structural problems in the British state. It is argued that a written constitution of the sort proposed would be concordant with England's wider constitutional tradition.

The book uses this constitutional lens to re-examine the nature of Englishness in a post-imperial age. Is it possible to imagine a post-imperial England, reconstituted as a normal European constitutional democracy, but in ways that are faithful to its own heritage?

A vital resource for anyone interested in England's - and the UK's - constitutional future.

W. Elliot Bulmer is an independent scholar of constitutional democracy and a former Senior Advisor on Constitution Building for the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.