Constitutional change following upon this profound shift in political practice must come soon. Straight away by-elections are going to be most peculiar without a party list system to enable voters to choose first their party, and then the candidate within the coalitions embodied in their party. But party list systems belong with proportional representation, which itself calls for centralised political parties remote from local choices.
We need a constitutional court to test the constitutional validity and propriety of politcal actions and polticians' attempts to interpret our diffused constitution; and we cannot again have civil servants drawing up constitutional practices and solutions which are, in themselves, highly political in their effect, to meet the increasing likelihood of various fall-outs from consensus politics facilitated by democratic practices other than first past the post .
The study of polical science covers many disciplines: philosophy, economics, statistics, political institutions, comparative politics, history, constitutional law... some respectable institutions of learning and research refused for years even to recognise any discipline at all, and required undergraduates to study in more formally and narrowly organised faculties of history or philosophy or even law. The student of political science usually has preferred areas of study; for Angels the most yawn-inducing was political sampling, polling and statistics; closely-followed by comparative politics. How unfortunate that it is precisely these bodies of knowledge that serve best in current circumstances.
There is, however, a small ray of sunshine shining from the direction of political institutions and constitutional law, so it is very pleasing that Ken Clarke is now our Lord Chancellor.
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3 comments:
Further to comments on your previous, I may be being unfair but I don't trust Clarke any further than I could throw him. The faux bonhomie is very thinly pasted over (in my estimation) callous, ruthless selfishness. You have to make up your mind about people and that's my instinct about him. A directorship feeding fags to the Third World? I couldn't do it.
I think it will be pretty difficult to have a constitutional court ruling on what is an unwritten constitution, and where the precedents are by their nature pretty limited.
I also suspect that it would be well nigh impossible to design procedures which would not be seen as highly political by at least one of the interested parties. Also to be honest I think that the transition process has been pretty well handled by the civil service this time based upon its interpretation of past precedent throughout the Commonwealth. Yes - politicians have been political, and especially Mr Clegg seeking to offer his Party to the highest bidder, but that is what they do - but the process actually delivered clarity out of a pretty unclear result in a short period with only minimal disruption to the real world.
Having never been addicted to tobacco I'm left a bit out of the tobacco arguments, S. People take sides quite strongly but it almost edges over into the demon drink and temperance set too's for me - rather long ago and far away.
It's a relief to listen to someone who's comfortable in themselves, very competent, and interested in others' views. But I'll accept your instinct - men can read other men much better than women can, I find.
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