Constitutional Futures: A History of the Next Ten Years - Hardcover

there are three mysteries about the transformation of the UK. What does the Prime Minister think he is doing? Why doesn't the British media hold constitutional reform to be important enough to demand an answer to this question? And why don't "the people" care? Any overview of the reforms now under way, such as Constitutional Futures, the aptly timed, keynote publication of the Constitution Unit, should be judged in the first instance on how well it addresses these puzzling questions. (Anthony Barnett, TLS)

Tony Blair has described the government's programme of constitutional reform as `the most extensive package of constitutional change ever proposed'. It will transform the political landscape, in ways which are not yet fully understood; and some of which the government does not intend. This book is a guide to the new political and legal system that will result.

The changes will include

greater checks and balances and greater separation of powers

a new territorial politics, with greater competition between the nations and regions of the UK

fragmentation of the party system, and the emergence of more regional political parties

a shift of power from Parliament to the courts, with more litigation against government, and between the new levels of government within the UK

changing concepts of citizenship and democracy

a more pluralist, consensus-building style of politics with more coalition governments and more minority parties in place of the adversarial two-party system.

These are just some of the themes explored in the Constitution Unit's new book, Constitutional Futures: A History of the Next Ten Years. It is a seminal piece of work, which should interest teachers and students of law and politics, opinion formers and policy makers, and all those involved in this period of unprecedented constitutional change.