In Chapter 2 we examined the sources of constitutional rules within the UK’s governance order. We established the importance of Acts of Parliament, which can be used to override other rules and have not, in the UK’s history as a state, been challenged by the courts. The theoretical relationship between constitutional sources, however, provides a distorted picture of the workings of the UK Constitution, and this section therefore explores the workings of the institutions of central government in the UK. This chapter concentrates upon the executive branch of government and how this branch has achieved a dominant position within the UK Constitution, both in spite of and because of parliamentary sovereignty. We begin by charting how the modern executive managed to accrue powers shed by a declining monarchy and proceed to analyse how the politicised elements of the executive branch were able to harness the party system and support of the civil service to exert control over Parliament.

We continue on the theme of government and money in this chapter. Instead of having only one government at a time, however, we move on to consider a world in which each government has its own monetary policy. Indeed, the main piece added in this chapter is to examine the question: What happens when each country issues its own fiat money? The organizing principle is that there is a price at which each currency trades for another country’s currency.

This chapter examines the role, powers and effectiveness of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, an officer of Parliament more frequently referred to as the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The Parliamentary Ombudsman plays an important role in helping to secure governmental accountability and also encourages continuing improvement in the standards of administrative decision-making. Alongside an assessment of the role, jurisdiction and powers of the Ombudsman, this chapter considers the effectiveness of the office and possibilities for reform.

It is time to let people trade. Given the people who live in this economy, it is straightforward to expect that young people have something – the consumption with which they are endowed – that old people want. For the trade to be mutually beneficial, the old people must have accumulated something valuable when young that serves as a kind of “store of value.” By offering this to the young person, we may get a trade.

In this chapter, our goal is to develop a model of the economy and then show how a make-believe, benevolent planner would choose the allocation. In other words, the planner would maximize the lifetime utility of all people living two periods subject to the resource constraint.

In most countries a codified constitution explains the overarching relationship between individuals and the state and establishes a coherent hierarchy of authoritative sources of law. The absence of a codified UK Constitution means that constitutionally significant rules can be found in a range of legal sources including statutes, statutory instruments, the Royal Prerogative and judicial decisions. There is even a prominent role for political understandings, known as conventions. This chapter compares the operation of the UK Constitution to the codified constitutions adopted in most other liberal democracies and introduces constitutional debates which will be developed in later chapters.

In this chapter we examine the structural reforms to the apex of the judicial branch implemented as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. By reforming the office of Lord Chancellor and establishing a Supreme Court for the UK, the Constitutional Reform Act severed the structural link between the executive, legislature and the senior judiciary in the UK. As a result, the Act has arguably cemented the idea of the institutional independence of the judiciary and has shown the contemporary relevance of ideas associated with separation of powers in achieving and implementing constitutional renewal.

The UK’s Constitution is not insulated from external influences. In considering the sources of constitutional law, we cannot ignore the influence of public international law and international legal orders to which the UK belongs. This chapter therefore examines the relationship between the UK’s legal systems, public international law in general, and introduces specific treaties which are significant for the UK’s legal systems, such as the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).

The constitutional doctrine of separation of powers seeks to divide governmental power between three arms, or branches, of government – the legislative, executive and judicial branches – with the aims of preventing arbitrary or oppressive government, and of promoting efficiency in the operation of government. Separation of powers has historically played an uncertain role in the constitution of the United Kingdom as it is argued to be incompatible with the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. This chapter will examine how far the UK Constitution can be said to reflect a separation between governmental institutions and their functions, and how far the values of separation of powers can be seen in our constitutional arrangements.

So far, people in our model economy have had only one way to acquire consumption at a later time – by holding fiat money. In the real world, however, there are many other assets. In this chapter, we concentrate on one particular alternative asset, capital. Capital is different from fiat money in that when people acquire capital this period, the capital produces goods next period and thus affects an economy’s output.

In Chapter 14, we examined a model economy in which bank insolvency can arise. But there is nothing in the model that looks like money in the sense that there are no explicit trades. What banks hold are real assets as a young person deposits goods to withdraw at a future date. A bank chooses from either a storage good or capital. Yes, storage is more liquid than capital in the sense that it matures in one period instead of two periods, but there is no reason for intergenerational trade between people in Chapter 14.

This first part of this chapter examines what is meant by the term ‘human rights’ and the role of this concept in twenty-first century public law. The concept of human rights is intended to protect those civil, political, social and economic interests vital to maintaining human autonomy. Human rights law, in its modern guise, came to the forefront of public thought across Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War, an era which produced the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The institutions established by the ECHR and the rights enumerated therein continue to evolve, providing the basis for some of the UK’s commitments in international law. The ECHR regime is designed to provide a framework not only for protecting human rights but, where necessary, for balancing competing rights against each other and against other important societal interests. The concept of human rights therefore provides a basis both for enumerating the most fundamental interests enjoyed by individuals within the UK and for restraining the actions of public authorities which conflict with those interests.