04 November, 2011

Another winner

The English Parliament

Kenneth MacKenzie

Neither an history of Parliament, nor a description of how it works, this book is more an history of how it developed the functions it has from the precedents allowed it under the feudal system. One of the great strengths of the British Constitution, unwritten, but not undefinable, is that everything in it can be traced back, mostly to the late mediƦval period and the structure of the England’s governance under the feudal monarchy. It is for this reason that attempts such as those by the current Labour and Liberal Democrat parties to essentially remove the House of Lords are so wildly misguided, to be resisted with all Parliament’s ability, and why any attempt to make the United Kingdom into a republic are (it is devoutly to be hoped) doomed to failure. This continuity of the feudal state, which in some measure we still live in, is almost unique among the world’s nations; i don’t know of another which has the same ability to trace back all the forms of government to the system of seven or eight centuries ago, though it may be possible in the case of, perhaps, Japan, whose history is something i am largely unaware of.

I'm really fortunate; i've been going through a patch of good books lately ~ of the last twenty i've read i'd say there're only about two i haven't enjoyed. Yay! Yay for good books. Yay for clever authors. Yay for me for finding them.

3 comments:

S.R. Karfelt said...

Yay for you. For finding good books and for being able to trace your government's history back so far. I know my governments. The End. I've heard there are other governments out there. That second part makes me almost well traveled. ;)

S.R. Karfelt said...

Here you go. '
That's the comma I left out.

Elsie Wilson said...

Curious, it looks like an apostrophe.

Not to worry, though, i actually have a huge store of both, and i don't mind sharing. '''''''',,,,,""""""'''',,,,,,,,

Got some colons, too, if you like...::::::::