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Abstract

This chapter focuses on the prevailing broad perceptions of the nature of the constitution; political debate, not just party political debate, about the constitution, in particular whether and how far reform was thought to be needed and how this might be accomplished; and the constitutional changes that actually occurred either through legislation or through informal processes. There were three main phases in the debate about and changes to the British constitution in the postwar era:

  • 1945 to the early 1960s: relative contentment, limited debate and modest change.

  • Early 1960s to 1975: growing doubts and the drive to modernise British institutions.

  • 1975 to the present: radical discontent and the written constitution debate.

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© 1998 Bill Coxall and Lynton Robins

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Coxall, B., Robins, L. (1998). The Constitution. In: British Politics since the War. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26013-3_7

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