The Crown and Constitutional Reform

The Crown and Constitutional Reform PDF Author: Cris Shore
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000169189
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
The Crown and Constitutional Reform is an innovative, interdisciplinary exchange between experts in law, anthropology and politics about the Crown, constitutional monarchy and the potential for constitutional reform in Commonwealth common law countries. The constitutional foundation of many Commonwealth countries is the Crown, an icon of ultimate authority, at once familiar yet curiously enigmatic. Is it a conceptual placeholder for the state, a symbol of sovereignty or does its ambiguity make it a shapeshifter, a legal fiction that can be deployed as an expedient mask for executive power and convenient instrument for undermining democratic accountability? This volume offers a novel, interdisciplinary exchange: the contributors analyse how the Crown operates in the United Kingdom and the postcolonial settler societies of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In doing so, they examine fundamental theoretical questions about statehood, sovereignty, constitutionalism and postcolonial reconciliation. As Queen Elizabeth II’s long reign approaches its end, questions about the Crown’s future, its changing forms and meanings, the continuing value of constitutional monarchy and its potential for reform, gain fresh urgency. The chapters in this book were originally published in a special issue of The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs.

The Crown and Constitutional Reform

The Crown and Constitutional Reform PDF Author: Cris Shore
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000169189
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 284

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Crown and Constitutional Reform is an innovative, interdisciplinary exchange between experts in law, anthropology and politics about the Crown, constitutional monarchy and the potential for constitutional reform in Commonwealth common law countries. The constitutional foundation of many Commonwealth countries is the Crown, an icon of ultimate authority, at once familiar yet curiously enigmatic. Is it a conceptual placeholder for the state, a symbol of sovereignty or does its ambiguity make it a shapeshifter, a legal fiction that can be deployed as an expedient mask for executive power and convenient instrument for undermining democratic accountability? This volume offers a novel, interdisciplinary exchange: the contributors analyse how the Crown operates in the United Kingdom and the postcolonial settler societies of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In doing so, they examine fundamental theoretical questions about statehood, sovereignty, constitutionalism and postcolonial reconciliation. As Queen Elizabeth II’s long reign approaches its end, questions about the Crown’s future, its changing forms and meanings, the continuing value of constitutional monarchy and its potential for reform, gain fresh urgency. The chapters in this book were originally published in a special issue of The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs.

Caribbean Constitutional Reform

Caribbean Constitutional Reform PDF Author: Simeon C. R. McIntosh
Publisher: Ian Randle Publishers
ISBN: 9789768167286
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"This is the first book to be written on Caribbean constitutional theory. In the continuing discourse and emergent project of constitutional reform in the Commonwealth Caribbean, it examines the origins of the Independence Constitutions across the Commonwealth Caribbean and traces the region's constitutional development from the time of the emancipation of slavery through to independence. At its core is the premise that constitutional reform must necessarily result in a redefining of West Indian political identity. The theme throughout the book is the fact that the written constitutions of the Caribbean all have their origin in the British Parliament and the unwritten English constitution that has evolved over centuries. The existing constitutions were all the result of the collaborative efforts of the region's political elite and British officials, with no participation from the West Indian people. The Crown is still claimed and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council remains the final appellate court. In the result, political independence has simply meant that the countries of the Commonwealth Caribbean are independent subjects of the Crown rather than colonial subjects. The book begins with the process of 'lawful devolution of sovereignty' and the origins of the sovereign states of the Commonwealth Caribbean and proceeds to address the theoretical issues of founding and amendability as well as such pressing issues about the relationship between a prime minister and a head of state in a parliamentary republic and electoral reform. An entire chapter is devoted to the Bill of Rights and addresses the fundamental rights and freedoms preserved in Caribbean Bills of Rights as well as the controversial and paradoxical Savings Clauses, which in and of themselves might justify the rewriting of the fundamental rights provisions of Commonwealth Caribbean Constitutions. Caribbean Constitutional Reform offers a philosophical justification for the establishment of a Caribbean Supreme Court based on the idea of sovereignty and the right of a people to define themselves. This work makes the first definitive step to addressing these critical issues in Caribbean constitutional theory and sets the stage for a 'new constitutional discourse' shaped by a Caribbean court of final appeal. "

The Shapeshifting Crown

The Shapeshifting Crown PDF Author: Cris Shore
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108496466
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
The Crown is the bedrock of Westminster-style democracies, yet its meanings, powers and effects are opaque and little understood.

Time for a New Constitutional Change

Time for a New Constitutional Change PDF Author: Richard Holme
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 134919543X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 203

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Book Description
A group of essays, many given at the annual Scarman seminar run by the Constitutional Reform Centre in 1987-88, and now published to coincide with the tercentenary of the Glorious Revolution and the Bill of Rights, re-examining the principles and practice of the constitution since 1688.

Constitutional Change in the UK

Constitutional Change in the UK PDF Author: Nigel Forman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134581734
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
The years since New Labour came to power in 1997 have seen changes to the British institutions of political power on an unprecedented scale. The reforms have been widespread, ranging from devolution of power in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to the reform of the House of Lords and the changing role of the Monarchy. This book is the first to examine these changes collectively and in detail, placing each in its historical context, analysing problems, solutions and what the future holds for this ambitious period of reforms. The book is comprehensive in coverage, and accessibly written. As such it should be the ideal resource for undergraduate students of British Politics seeking to make sense of this complex subject.

The Law and Custom of the Constitution

The Law and Custom of the Constitution PDF Author: William Reynell Anson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 494

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Book Description


Constitutional Change in the United Kingdom

Constitutional Change in the United Kingdom PDF Author: F. N. Forman
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415230353
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
This book seeks to outline the most important issues in constitutional change in the UK ranging from the historical foundations of the modern-day British system, to the future, as power in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is devolved.

Crown Powers, Subjects and Citizens

Crown Powers, Subjects and Citizens PDF Author: Christopher Vincenzi
Publisher: Burns & Oates
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
In the growing debate about constitutional reform and the future of the monarchy in Britain, little consideration has hitherto been given to the immense powers exercised in the Queen's name by ministers under the royal prerogative. Crucial decisions are made under the prerogative in relation to defence, foreign policy, immigration, the secret services and the management of the Civil Service without prior Parliamentary approval, adequate political accountability or effective judicial review. On the basis of the prerogative, ministers withhold passports, override statutes and legislate in the Council of Ministers of the European Community. This book examines the historical development and the legal and political scope of prerogative powers and Crown immunities as they affect the exercise of rights by citizens and non-citizens. It traces the changing relationship between individual and state, from subjecthood and allegiance to the Crown in a secretive state, to a participating legal and political citizenship in an open society and a widening British and European context. It addresses issues of key importance in the current constitutional debate about political and legal accountability, citizenship and human rights, and contributes to the debate about the future of the British monarchy and its remaining constitutional functions.

Constitutional Reform

Constitutional Reform PDF Author: Rodney Brazier
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
This book examines the current debate about constitutional reform. Included in this new edition is a chapter on the Labour Government's plans to reform the system of government.

The Crown in Australia

The Crown in Australia PDF Author: Sally Raudon
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Australians
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
The Crown is the foundation of Australia’s constitutional order, and its representations are common throughout society, yet it is also curiously unrecognised and taken for granted. Even within the elite community of Australians whose work brings them into direct contact with the Crown – who are responsible for curating or representing it, or enacting its agency – many argue that it is insignificant, ‘merely symbolic’, or ornamental to actual political power. Its efficacy is minimised, and its presence unremarked. Over the past twenty years, however, the Crown has become embroiled in Australia’s vigorous, sometimes bitter, debate over constitutional reform, even while it evades direct interrogation. Based on multi-sited fieldwork in Australia, including interviews and participant observation, I set out to explore how Australians view the Crown and its constitutional role. I found that people typically think of it in terms of the Queen, rather than the offices of government or state. This leads me to ask: How is the Crown represented in Australia? Is it a unifying entity? To what extent has the Crown been indigenised, and in what ways does it still signal colonialism? How does the Crown interact with other symbols of national identity and conflict? If the Crown is a façade, what does it conceal? How is it used by actors in the constitutional reform debate? With that deliberation already well advanced, will the inevitable death of the popular Queen mean a constitutional reordering in Australia? To analyse the Crown’s diverse meanings I draw on theories of symbolism, power and ritual. Using Kantorowicz’s thesis of the king’s two bodies, I also draw out the significance of the distinction between the Crown as a person (Elizabeth Windsor) and the Crown as a set of institutions, or body politic (the Crown in right of the Commonwealth of Australia). The figures of the Crown-as-person and the Crown-as-office come together and pull apart in different situations and contexts in Australian life. I argue that, while the office of the Crown is concerned with relatively narrow legal issues around land, it remains primarily associated with Queen Elizabeth II and the British monarchy rather than with its institutional meanings. This places a delicate constitutional equilibrium at risk. I make my case by examining how the Crown conflates notions of symbolism, affect, mystique, charisma, kinship, and transcendence with issues of political power, authority, legitimacy, sovereignty, and nationalism. These political abstractions, like constitutional monarchy itself, must be symbolised so that people can imagine, and be moved to love – or hate – them. Keywords: Political symbol, Crown, Australia, constitutional reform, elites, constitutional monarchy, royalty, charisma, king’s two bodies, political anthropology, ethnography.