An overview of the United Kingdom’s constitution and defense policy.

Defense and security policy lies at the heart of the British state but can appear entirely untrammeled by the constitution. In fact, when political and military leaders exercise their executive powers, the UK Parliament and the judiciary have limited oversight, let alone control, over their actions. Defence and the UK Constitution introduces key constitutional issues to a general audience and pinpoints the differences between the “legal constitution” and the “political constitution,” with reference to the lack of accountability within modern British security structures. Nigel White traces this imbalance back to the 1680 Bill of Rights and examines the evolution of war and emergency powers, placing them within the context of international law.

Advocating for a rebalancing of the efficient and democratic, as well as the legal and political, elements of the constitution, this short work aims to address the inherent “defense paradox” in the UK constitution and to indicate which constitutional changes are needed to safeguard Britain’s democratic principles and limit excessive uses of discretionary power.
 

A concise history of Northern Ireland through its pivotal moments.

Since the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, the constitutional position of Northern Ireland within the Union has endured an unusual level of attention. Northern Ireland and the UK Constitution leads us through its pivotal moments: the 1920–72 Unionist-led governments, the following thirty years of bitter conflicts, the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, and the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership in the European Union. Considering each of the moments in the broader setting of UK constitutional norms and narratives, she addresses the exceptional constitutional characteristics of Northern Ireland and the ways in which these have often resulted in “blindspot” analyses of the Union. This short book also considers the implications of Brexit and the constitutional impacts and shifts it has brought to Northern Ireland and discusses the possible constitutional repercussions.