Established 1995 Director Professor Meg Russell Founded 1995 | Location London, United Kingdom Phone +44 20 7679 4977 | |
Website www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit Address 29-30 Tavistock Square, Kings Cross, London WC1H 9QU, UK Similar U C L the Departme of Politica, Gower Place Practice, King's College London, Darwin Lecture Theatre, Christoph Ingold Auditorium Profiles | ||
Roots to the constitution unit mayflower compact early representative government
The Constitution Unit is a think tank based within the Department of Political Science at University College London which analyses constitutional change and its effects. The Unit was founded in 1995 by Robert Hazell and specialises in the study of devolution, parliament and parliamentary reform, freedom of information legislation, church and state, courts and the legal system.
Contents
History
The Constitution Unit was founded by Robert Hazell in 1995 to conduct detailed research and planning on constitutional reform in the UK.
In June 1999 the Unit launched a series of studies on devolution, with work focused on proportional voting systems, comparisons of the new assemblies with the Westminster model, multi-level democracy, Scottish independence and the governance and management of the health services in each devolved country.
A 2009 study by the Constitution Unit titled "Making Minority Parliament Work: Hung Parliaments and the Challenges for Westminster and Whitehall" led to the publication of a Cabinet Manual by the British Government in December 2010. The Constitution Unit, in partnership with the London-based Institute for Government, played a key role in the writing of the Manual.
In July 2010 the Constitution Unit received widespread publicity when it criticised reform bills published by the British Government on fixed-term parliaments and electoral change as being "reckless and rushed".
Publications
The Constitution Unit publishes a triannual newsletter called Monitor which is published in January, June and October. It contains analysis of constitutional developments in the UK and details about the Unit’s research and publications.