English Political Institutions - An Introductory Study An Introductory Study

ENGLISH POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AN INTRODUCTORY STUDY WITH AN INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER ON THE CONSTITUTION, 1910-1924 OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1925 Oxford University Press London Edinburgh Glasgow Copenhagen New York Toronto Melbourne Cape Town Bombay Calcutta Madras Shanghai Humphrey Milford Publisher to the UNIVERSITY Printed in England at the OKFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS By Johnson Printer to the University PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION English Political Institutions was fiist published in 1910, and a second edition in 1912 Since that time it has been reissued four times but never revised The time appears to have arrived when thorough revision can no longer be delayed, but it is not easy to decide what form such revision should take in the case of a book which has been for some time in general use as a text-book m Schools and Universities My publishers and I are led to believe that the plan least likely to cause inconvenience to teachers is to leave the original text and pagination substantially unchanged, and to prefix to a new edition some introductory notes which will bring the book up to date and will indicate succinctly the main changes which have taken place in the structure and working of the English Constitution since 1910 This I have done, but, for the convenience of those who possess earlier editions, the new Introduction will, for a limited period, be sold as a sepaiate booklet For those who do not, it may, I nope, serve as a useful summary of the most recent stage m the evolution of our ever-changing Constitution This new Introduction has enjoyed a similar advantage, having been revised by The Right Hon. H. A. L. Fisher, M. P., for many years my colleague at Oxford, and morerecently my colleague in the House of Commons. To him and to Sir Henry Cowan, M. P., who has also been kind enough to read the Introduction in proof, I am grateful for several valuable suggestions which have led me to modify two of the more important paragraphs. J. A. R. MARRIOTT. HOUSE. OF COMMONS LIBRARY, July 22, 1924. PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION THIS book is intended as an introduction to the study of English Politics, but its scope is virtually limited to one section of the subject It deals only with the structure of the State and the functions of the several organs of government With abstract political philosophy it is not concerned, nor will there be found here any discussion of the conception or the functions of the State in general My primary object has been to set forth the actual working of the English Constitution of to day, and to do so with constant reference to the history of the past I hope, therefore, that the book may be found to fulfill a twofold purposes to provide an introduction to the history of English Institutions, and also to explain the contemporary working of the complicated constitutional machine The book is m fact based upon lectures which have already, I hope, fulfilled in some measure these purposes Those lectures have been addressed, in forms varied to suit varying circumstances, to audiences of widely different types ...