Coalition and the Constitution

Vernon Bogdanor was, until 2010, Professor of Government at Oxford University. He is now a Research Professor at King's College, London, Gresham Professor of Law, a Fellow of the British Academy and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

Bogdanor's short and readable critique of proposals such as the alternative vote and fixed-term parliaments is to the high standard one has come to expect from him.

• 1. The General Election of 2010 and the Formation of the Coalition I . Outcome of the Election II . A Hung Parliament III . A Hung Parliament and the Constitution 2. Formation of the Coalition I . The Politics of Coalition Formation II . The Electoral Geography of Coalition Formation 3. Governing with a Coalition I . The Structure of the Coalition II . Agreements to Differ III . The Coalition and the Civil Service I V. Types of Coalition 4. 'England Does Not Love Coalitions' I . Coalitions in Peacetime II . Electoral Pacts III . Grass-Roots Hostility to Coalitions 5. Electoral Reform and the Alternative Vote I . Reducing the Number of MPs II . More Frequent Boundary Reviews III . The Referendum on the Alternative Vote I V. The Working of the Alternative Vote V. Some Possible Consequences of the Alternative Vote 6. Fixed-Term Parliaments I . Experience of Fixed-Term Parliaments II . Thresholds for Dissolution III . The Constructive Vote of No Confidence I V. Effects of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 7. A New World? Multi-Party Politics and Coalition Government I . A Series of Hung Parliaments? II . Consequences of Hung Parliaments III . A Directly Elected Second Chamber I V. A Constitution for a Post-Bureaucratic Age