Changing States, Changing Nations: Constitutional Reform and National Identity in the Late Twentieth Century

✍ Scribed by Andrew McDonald

• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Year: 2020
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 269
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book presents the remarkable constitutional reforms undertaken by the Blair and Brown governments in the UK. The reforms are remarkable in that they had the potential to change the way Britons understood the national identity of the UK. The book illuminates the ambitions of the key players in Whitehall and Westminster and is enriched through a study of comparable constitutional reforms in Canada and Australia: the Charter of Rights and Freedoms pioneered by Pierre Trudeau and the attempt by Paul Keating to make Australia a Republic. The Canadian and Australian chapters are a contribution to the political history of those nations and a device for understanding the changes in Britain.
The author is an expert in the use of Freedom of Information and was a senior policy maker in Whitehall working primarily on constitutional reform. Readers will benefit from the author’s unrivalled access to interviewees and documentary sources in the three countries covered in the book.

✦ Table of Contents

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Contents
Archives and Manuscript Collections Consulted, with Abbreviations Used in Notes
Publisher’s Note
1. Constitutional Reform and National Identity
I. Constitutional Reform in Britain under Blair and Brown
II. Comparative Studies of Constitutional Reform
III. Rationale for Selection of Case Studies
IV. Definitions: Nation and Nation State
V. National Myths and Symbols
VI. National Identity
VII. Changes in National Identity
VIII. National Identity and Constitutional Reform
IX. Comparative Case Studies
X. Changing States, Changing Nations
2. 'Doing Good By Stealth': Tony Blair and Reform of the British Constitution
I. Labour and Constitutional Reform
II. Labour and the Maximalists: The 1987 Parliament
III. Labour Policy-making in the Wake of the 1992 Defeat
IV. Labour and the Nation
V. New Labour and the Constitution
VI. Shuffling the Pack: Preparing for Government
VII. New Labour, No Britain
VIII. Cook-Maclennan
IX. From the Manifesto to the Polls
X. The Election
XI. Into Government
XII. The First Session: May 1997–November 1998
XIII. The Second Session: November 1998–November 1999
XIV. The End of the Affair: New Labour and the Liberal Democrats
XV. The Third and Fourth Sessions: November 1999–June 2001
XVI. The First Term: Constitutional Reform Delivered?
XVII. The 2001 Manifesto
XVIII. The Constitution in the Second Term: 2001–05
XIX. The Constitution in the Third Term: Blair's Final Years
XX. Britain's Quiet Constitutional Revolution
3. 'Just Watch Me': Pierre Trudeau and the Canadian Constitution
I. Canada at the Centenary
II. Enter Trudeau
III. From the Centenary to Victoria
IV. Stasis
V. From PQ Victory to Liberal Defeat
VI. A Final Chance
VII. Quebec Votes
VIII. Constitutional Reform in the Wake of the No Vote
IX. Going it Alone
X. One Last Try
XI. Aftermath
XII. Consequences
XIII. The Sesquicentenary of Confederation
4. 'A Small But Significant Step': Australia and the Republic
I. The Combatants
II. Enter Paul Keating
III. Mapping the Course: The Republic Advisory Committee
IV. Becalmed
V. John Howard and the Republic
VI. The Convention
VII. Australia Votes No
VIII. Why the Republic was Lost
IX. Where Next for Republican Australia?
X. Constitutional Change and National Identity
5. 'Power to The People'?: The UK Constitution After Blair
I. Brown Arrives
II. Britishness
III. Governance of Britain
IV. The Coalition and Constitutional Reform
V. Brexit
VI. What Next for the British Constitution?
VII. Public Engagement
VIII. Public Reaction to the Reforms
IX. The Future of Britain
X. Brown and the Constitution
6. Changing States, Changing Nations
I. Three Stories: One Pattern?
II. Lessons for Reformers?
III. Re-engineering National Identity
IV. Changing States, Changing Nations
Note on Sources
Select Bibliography
Index