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3 - Political Constitutionalism

from Part I - Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2023

By
Richard Bellamy
Edited by
Peter Cane  and
H. Kumarasingham
Peter Cane
Affiliation:
Christ's College, Cambridge and Australian National University
H. Kumarasingham
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
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Summary

The British Constitution possesses many distinctive features: from its uncodified character and lack of entrenchment to the status as ordinary statutes rather than ‘higher’ law of those written rules that comprise it. However, all these features can be regarded as manifestations of its most distinguishing characteristic – its quality as a predominantly ‘political’ rather than a ‘legal’ constitution.1 Whereas codification, and those other features that the British Constitution notoriously lacks, comprise essential elements of a legal form of constitutionalism, their absence has traditionally been deemed necessary for the integrity of the UK’s political constitution.

Keywords

political constitutionalismParliamentary Sovereigntymixed constitutionparliamentary governmentrepresentative democracypopulism
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Constitutional History of the United Kingdom , pp. 59 - 87
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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