Short Circuit 269 | The British Constitution

It’s Special Short Circuit time. And this time that means we don’t just investigate a special legal issue, we journey to a special place (well, at least that’s what Shakespeare and John of Gaunt might say). This week we focus on the British Constitution, how it’s (quite) different from the United States Constitution, how it’s constituted, how it works, and how it’s been changing recently. Two scholars have edited a new volume full of scepticism (note the “c” instead of the “k”) about recent and proposed constitutional changes in the United Kingdom, a book called Sceptical Perspectives on the Changing Constitution of the United Kingdom. If you don’t know much about the constitutional order of America’s mother country you’ll learn quite a bit. If you’d like to learn more about the constitutional debates they’re having in Britain you’ll learn quite a bit more. And if you’d like to hear a bit of push-and-pull about the merits of a written constitution that judges can enforce versus one that’s ever changing then you might even learn a bit about that—whether you agree with our guests or not. Richard Johnson and Yuan Yi Zhu join us for all things British—with some elements of the English, the Scots, and even the Welsh—and your host throws in a bit of reminiscing about time spent in the remnants of the Duchy of Normandy. Click here for transcript. Sceptical Perspectives on the Changing Constitution of the United Kingdom Anthony’s essay that discusses the British Constitution The Act of Union Richard’s book The End of the Second Reconstruction