Robert Walpole, Britain's first prime minister, is an under-appreciated figure. Three hundred years after he took office, the contrast with his most recent successor is quite illuminating.
Category: Constitutional law
Northern Ireland at the crossroads
Northern Ireland's Unionists are making trouble over Brexit, reflecting the fact that it's put them in an impossible position.
One more post about the electoral college
What would happen in the US if the electoral college was elected proportionally? The answer is rather interesting, but it's an unlikely avenue for reform.
What happened yesterday?
Republican challenges to Joe Biden's electoral votes were rejected, but the logic behind them points to a view of the US constitution quite different from the orthodox one.
An electoral college recap
As the electoral college sets the seal on the US election result, it's important to lay to rest some myths and set out what the college actually does.
Not just the presidency
Control of the House of Representatives will be an interesting issue in next month's US election: not in the usual way, but because of its strange potential role in choosing a president.
On courts and constitutions
After being, by their lights, cheated out of two seats on the United States Supreme Court, the Democrats are ready to fight back, but their options are constrained by the constitution.
Collective responsibility in New South Wales
A cabinet crisis in New South Wales demonstrates some truths about how responsible government works. It also shows that coalition politics in Australia is not quite what it seems.
Still worrying about monarchy
Debate over the "palace letters" in Australia brings some focus back to the debate on monarchy vs republic. So do the woes of the former king of Spain.
Writing to the queen
John Kerr's reports to the palace show him in a poor light but fail to reveal any grand conspiracy. The political debate, however, rolls on independently of the evidence.
The World is Not Enough 