The long development of representative and democratic institutions in Britain - usually slow but sometimes violent - has been accompanied by continuous debate on the nature and value of such institutions.
Debate has centred, in particular, on constitutional and political issues: the relationship between Crown and Parliament, and Cabinet and the House of Commons; the role of political parties; the extent of voting rights and the structure of the electoral system. Around these political arguments has developed an equally crucial wider debate, addressing such issues as: the impact of democracy on individual rights and liberty; the political role of the ordinary citizen; the economic consequences of democracy; and the nature of a democratic culture.
Democracy in Britain is an indispensable guide to those arguments and issues. As much a literary anthology as a political reader, it includes a rich and varied selection of key writings, from the debates around Britain's representative and democratic institutions, from constitutional commentary and diaries to poetry and fiction; from Locke and Burke to Dryden and Auden; and from Magna Carta to Spycatcher.
* This volume provides the best resource available for the understanding and study of Britain's system of representative democracy. * The editors have made efforts throughout to make the material selected accessible to non-specialists. [3 Rather than following one side of the debate on British democracy, this presents the reader with both sides of the argument.