E-raamat: The Coalition and the Constitution [Hart e-raamatud]

This small volume on UK constitutional politics examines the recent return to coalition rule in Parliament and the effects of proposed electoral reforms on fundamental processes of British government. Noting that the rise in power of third parties makes coalition rule more likely going forward, the volume explores topics such as the details of the 2010 election, the electoral geography of coalition formation, electoral pacts, reform proposals, including MP reductions and direct votes for the House of Lords, and fixed term Parliaments. The work will be of interest to students of local and national UK party politics and readers studying the evolution of political structures. Bogdanor is a former professor of government at Oxford University. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Benjamin Disraeli famously said, "England does not love coalitions," but 2010 saw the first peace-time coalition in Britain since the 1930s. The coalition, moreover, may well not be an aberration, for there are signs that, with the rise in strength of third parties, hung parliaments are more likely to recur than in the past. Perhaps, therefore, the era of single-party majority government, to which the British have become accustomed since 1945, is coming to an end. But is the British constitution equipped to deal with coalition? Are alterations in the procedures of parliament or government needed to cope with it? The inter-party agreement between the coalition partners proposes a wide ranging series of constitutional reforms, the most important of which are fixed-term parliaments and a referendum on the alternative vote electoral system to be held in May 2011. The coalition is also proposing measures to reduce the size of the House of Commons, to directly elect the House of Lords, and to strengthen localism. These reforms, if implemented, will permanently alter the way the British are governed. This book analyzes the significance of coalition government for Britain and of the momentous constitutional reforms which the coalition is proposing. In doing so, it penetrates the cloud of polemic and partisanship to provide an objective analysis for the informed citizen.