The Constitution Unit
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The Constitution Unit
The Constitution Unit conducts timely, rigorous, independent research into constitutional change and the reform of political institutions. Our research has significant real-world impact, informing policy-makers engaged in such changes - both in the United Kingdom and around the world. On this chann...
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97 bölüm
How should the UK's parliaments scrutinise international agreements?
Many of the highest-profile political issues – including trade, security, and immigration – are now shaped by international treaties and agreements. T...
England’s ‘devolution revolution’: prospects and challenges
The UK government has promised a ‘devolution revolution’ in England, with major changes to the structure of regional and local government, and has pub...
Labour’s Constitutional Agenda in Office: Constitution Unit Conference 2025 - Reflections on Labour’s constitutional agenda
This summer marks a year since Labour’s landslide victory at the 2024 general election. The party’s manifesto contained a number of pledges for reform...
Labour’s Constitutional Agenda in Office: Constitution Unit Conference 2025 - Reforming the House of Commons
This summer marks a year since Labour’s landslide victory at the 2024 general election. The party’s manifesto contained a number of pledges for reform...
Labour’s Constitutional Agenda in Office: Constitution Unit Conference 2025 - The rule of law
This summer marks a year since Labour’s landslide victory at the 2024 general election. The party’s manifesto contained a number of pledges for reform...
Labour’s Constitutional Agenda in Office: Constitution Unit Conference 2025 - The electoral system in a multiparty era
This summer marks a year since Labour’s landslide victory at the 2024 general election. The party’s manifesto contained a number of pledges for reform...
Labour’s Constitutional Agenda in Office: Constitution Unit Conference 2025 - Standards in public life
This summer marks a year since Labour’s landslide victory at the 2024 general election. The party’s manifesto contained a number of pledges for reform...
Labour’s Constitutional Agenda in Office: Constitution Unit Conference 2025 - Opening keynote from Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office
This summer marks a year since Labour’s landslide victory at the 2024 general election. The party’s manifesto contained a number of pledges for reform...
AI and democracy
Artificial intelligence (AI) is predicted to transform many aspects of our lives in the coming years. One of these is the functioning of the democrati...
Reform of Stormont: Options for Discussion
Talk of possible reforms to the Stormont institutions has been growing recently, spurred by concerns about repeated institutional collapses, perceived...
Are the UK’s party funding regulations fit for purpose?
Political parties are central to the functioning of representative democracy in the UK, playing a crucial role during and between elections. How parti...
Constitutional Reform in the UK
Politics in the UK has been in turmoil in recent years — Brexit, Covid, movements for independence in Scotland and Northern Ireland, rule-breaking Pri...
Improving parliamentary scrutiny of legislation
Recent years have seen frequent complaints about the quality of legislative scrutiny by parliament, and particularly by the House of Commons. Various...
The Politics of Parliamentary Reform
Parliament is at the heart of democracy—it’s where voters are represented, laws are debated, and key decisions are made. But who really controls what...
Making a success of votes at 16
The Labour government has committed to lowering the voting age for Westminster elections from 18 to 16. This proposal raises a number of questions for...
Improving election discourse in the UK
This year’s UK general election saw a range of concerns about the quality of election discourse. Alongside evidence of many candidates facing abuse an...
How to be an effective opposition
Opposition parties play a crucial role in parliamentary democracy, scrutinising the government and putting forward alternative policies. But what make...
How to be an effective select committee chair
This autumn the House of Commons has elected a raft of new select committee chairs who will play an important role in holding the government to accoun...
Prospects for the House of Commons Modernisation Committee
The House of Commons has established a new Modernisation Committee with a remit ‘to consider reforms to House of Commons procedures, standards, and wo...
Constitution Unit Conference 2024: House of Lords reform
The composition and role of the House of Lords are subject to frequent question. Since the last major change by a Labour government in 1999, proposals...
Constitution Unit Conference 2024: Rule of law
The role of courts and judges has been controversial in recent years, with criticism of both domestic judges and the European Court of Human Rights. S...
Constitution Unit Conference 2024: Devolution within England
The last two decades have seen major changes in the structure of sub-national government within England, with the gradual devolution of powers to a ra...
Constitution Unit Conference 2024: Standards in government and parliament
The 2019–24 parliament has been dogged by complaints of low standards of conduct by our politicians. Rishi Sunak has committed to upholding the ideals...
Opinion Polls
The podcast originally appeared on 'Uncovering Politics' from UCL's Department of Political Science.
In the run up to the UK General Election w...
Priorities for new MPs' induction in the next parliament
Whatever the result of the upcoming general election, a large number of new MPs will enter the House of Commons. A well-designed induction programme w...
Changes and challenges in regulating elections
Recent years have seen many changes to election regulations in the UK. These changes affect key aspects of how elections are fought and administered,...
Should military action require parliamentary approval?
The UK’s recent air strikes on the Houthis in Yemen have renewed discussion about parliament’s role in approving military action. The government is no...
Do protests affect what politicians say?
Protest is a fundamental part of democracy. From thousands attending pro-Palestine marches in London, to farmers driving their tractors into Paris, Be...
UK Governance Project: proposals for reform
On 1 February a cross-party expert commission, the UK Governance Project, chaired by former Conservative Attorney General Dominic Grieve, published it...
The Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales: UK-Wide Implications
The Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales launched its final report in January 2024. Its recommendations – which assessed opti...
How Parliaments Question Prime Ministers
How parliaments hold ministers (particularly prime ministers) to account is a fundamental part of parliamentary democracy. And one of those mechanisms...
The Future of Power-Sharing in Northern Ireland
Peace in Northern Ireland is widely recognised as one of the leading achievements of politics in recent decades. The Good Friday, or Belfast Agreemen...
The Future of Democracy in the UK: Public Attitudes and Policy Options
Over the past two years, a Constitution Unit team has been examining public attitudes to democracy in the UK. The project’s final report draws togethe...
Mark D’Arcy - Reflections on over 20 years of reporting on parliament
Mark D’Arcy recently retired after spending 21 years covering events at Westminster for the BBC. During that time he built up an unparalleled knowledg...
Ian Dunt’s How Westminster Works … and Why It Doesn’t
The recent book by journalist and author Ian Dunt provides a detailed and critical account of many aspects of the UK’s political system, including pol...
Conference 2023: Panel 4 Elections and Electoral Reform
Adopting a more proportional electoral system is opposed by the Conservative Party, and by the Labour leader, but attracts growing support elsewhere....
Conference 2023: Panel 6 Implementing Constitutional Change
This final keynote session considered the practicalities of delivering constitutional change in the round, whether under the current government, or a...
Conference 2023: Panel 5 Constitutional Standards
The issue of ensuring high standards of behaviour in public life remains high-profile following the Johnson and Truss premierships. Rishi Sunak pledge...
Conference 2023 Panel 3: Courts and the rule of law
Relations between the political branches and the courts have been strained in recent years. Pushback against the Court of Justice of the European Unio...
Conference 2023 Panel 2: Devolution and the Union
Uncertainties over the UK’s future territorial politics are great. The SNP is in turmoil, and the UK government’s block on Holyrood’s gender legislati...