Constitution for the Common Good

W ELLIOT BULMER graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2000. He joined the Royal Navy as a Logistics Officer and spent six months leading a special operations (PSYOPS) team in Iraq. On leaving the Navy in 2006 he embarked on postgraduate studies at the University of Glasgow, focusing on constitutional design, while teaching undergraduate courses in comparative politics, history of political thought and nationalism. In addition to his research he has since been involved in the Constitutional Commission, of where he was Research Director. Bulmer is now working for the Constitution Building Processes Global Programme at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, splitting his time between living in Scotland and The Hague, Netherlands.

Academically insightful… Bulmer’s book is a rare example of a treatise on constitutional politics aimed at the general reader. THE SCOTSMAN on A Constitution for the Common GoodDr W Elliot Bulmer is one of the country’s leading experts on constitutional matters. SUNDAY HERALD

• ContentsAcknowledgements 6Preface to the Second Edition 9Introduction 13Chapter One Does the Constitution still matter? 21i Independence, Democracy and the Constitution 23 ii Independence, Sovereignty and Folkric 27 iii The Constitutional Debate before the Independence Referendum 29 iv Constitutionalism without Independence? 36a A Federal United Kingdom 39 b A New Treaty of Union 45 c Home Rule 47Chapter Two How can Constitutions promote the common good? 52i The Common Good as the Purpose of the State 53 ii What is the Common Good? 58 iii Common Good, Pluralism and Pre-commitment 61 iv Political Liberty as a Common Good 65Chapter Three How prescriptive should the Constitution be? 67i The Case for Procedural Constitutionalism 67 ii The Limits of Prescriptive Constitutionalism 80 iii The Relationship between Procedural and Prescriptive Elements 84Chapter Four How could the Constitution strengthen democracy? 93i Direct Democracy 95 ii Representation and Inclusiveness 104iii Second Chamber: Senate or Tribunate? 117iv Local Democracy 124 v Democratising Parties 127Chapter Five How can the Constitution promote good governance and accountability? 131i Parliamentary Scrutiny and Fourth Branch Institutions 131ii Recall and Popular Dissolution 139iii Prime Ministerial Term Limits 143 iv Guarding the Guardians: Supervision of the Military and Security Services 146Chapter Six How can the Constitution reflect our values and identities? 152i The Preamble and Para-Consitutional Covenants 152 ii Religion and State 159iii Monarchy and National Identity 170Chapter Seven How can the Constitution help us to achieve social justice, tackle poverty and reduce inequality? 177i Social and Economic Rights 177ii Judicial or Political Enforcement 181iii Beyond Rights: Empowering the People 184Chapter Eight How can the Constitution promote public ethics? 187i The need for Good Citizenship 188 ii Education for Citizenship 191 iii Principles of Public Life and Codes of Conduct 194iv Public Honours 199Chapter Nine How can we build a new constitutional settlement? 201i Does process matter? 201 ii Stages of the process 208 iii Possible next steps 213Appendices 219Appendix A A Constitution for an Independent Scotland 221 Appendix B ‘A New Treaty of Union’ 270Appendix C A Home Rule and Full Fiscal Autonomy Settlement for Scotland 277 Appendix D A Constitution for a Federal United Kingdom 284Endnotes 325