Includes bibliographical references (pages 119-129) and index.

What constitution? -- Writing the constitution -- Parliamentary government -- The expansion and contraction of the English state -- Civil liberty -- Whither the constitution?

"Beginning with the Magna Carta in 1215, a number of documents--not one single document as in the United States--have constituted the British constitution. What are the main characteristics of Britain's peculiar constitutional arrangements? How has the British constitution altered in response to the changing nature of its state--from England, to Britain, to the United Kingdom? What impact has the UK's developing relations with the European Union caused? These are some of the questions that legal scholar Martin Loughlin investigates in this Very Short Introduction. He traces how the British constitution has grown organically, in response to changes in the economic, political, and social environment. By considering the nature and authority of the current British constitution, and placing it in the context of others, Loughlin reveals how the traditional idea of a constitution came to be retained, what problems have been generated as a result of adapting a traditional approach in a modern political world, and what the future holds for the British constitution."--Publisher's website.