18 episodes

Cut through the political noise and join our experts in debating how and why constitutions matter in the world today, from the challenges of everyday life to the big questions of global politics. Hosted by the Institute of Legal and Constitutional Research, University of St Andrews.

Talking Constitutions ILCR, University of St Andrews

    • Government
    • 5.0 • 6 Ratings

Cut through the political noise and join our experts in debating how and why constitutions matter in the world today, from the challenges of everyday life to the big questions of global politics. Hosted by the Institute of Legal and Constitutional Research, University of St Andrews.

    Adversarial politics

    Adversarial politics

    This episode explores the adversarial nature of contemporary politics, considering its causes, its bad effects, and also what its benefits may be.
    Discussants are Wendy Chamberlain, MP for N.E. Fife and the Liberal Democrats’ Chief Whip and Spokesperson for Work and Pensions; Stephen Gethins, formerly an MP at Westminster and the Scottish National Party’s Front Bench Spokesman for International Affairs and Europe; currently acting Vice-Principal (International Affairs) at the University of St Andrews; and Daniel Greenberg, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards (since 1 January 2023).

    • 42 min
    Talking Watergate

    Talking Watergate

    In this special episode of Talking Constitutions, recorded to mark the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in on 17 June 1972, Professor Colin Kidd (University of St Andrews and All Souls College Oxford) tells John Hudson about the events, the politics, and the constitutional significance of the Watergate scandal.

    • 41 min
    Historical Constitutions

    Historical Constitutions

    The subject of this episode is ‘Historical Constitutions’. Discussants are Jill Harries (Professor Emerita of Ancient History, University of St Andrews), Colin Kidd (Professor of Modern History, University of St Andrews) and Harshan Kumarasingham (Senior Lecturer in British Politics,  University of Edinburgh and co-convenor of Arthur Berriedale Keith Forum on Commonwealth Constitutionalism). The episode is chaired by John Hudson (Professor of Legal History, University of St Andrews).

    • 1 hr
    Current Debates on the UK Constitution

    Current Debates on the UK Constitution

    The subject of this episode is ‘Current debates on the UK constitution’. Discussants are Stephen Gethins (Professor from Practice, University of St Andrews, and formerly the Scottish National Party’s Front Bench Spokesman for International Affairs and Europe), Nicola McEwen (Professor of Territorial Politics at the Centre on Constitutional Change, University of Edinburgh, and Senior Research Fellow with the ESRC initiative, UK in a Changing Europe), and Catherine Stihler (Chief Executive Officer of Creative Commons and formerly a Labour Member of the European Parliament). The episode is chaired by John Hudson (Professor of Legal History, University of St Andrews).

    • 35 min
    Space, Law and Constitutions

    Space, Law and Constitutions

    The subject of this episode is ‘Space, law and constitutions’, considering the laws and institutions that shape a wide variety of activities beyond the earth.
    Discussants are Timiebi Aganaba (science advisory board member of the SETI institute and Assistant Professor of Space and Society in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University, where she is also on the Law School Faculty), Adam Bower (Senior Lecturer in the International Relations at the University of St Andrews), and Michael Byers (Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia). The episode is chaired by John Hudson (Professor of Legal History, University of St Andrews).
    [Note: This episode was recorded on 15 February 2022, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.]

    • 59 min
    Old Authorities and Contemporary Constitutions

    Old Authorities and Contemporary Constitutions

    The subject of this episode is ‘Old Authorities and Contemporary Constitutions’, considering how and why certain works and specific figures from the past carry authority in contemporary constitutional arrangements and arguments.
    Discussants are Jim Gallagher (former Civil Servant who headed the Scottish Justice Department and was the UK government’s most senior adviser on devolution and other constitutional issues), Janet McLean (Professor of Law at The University of Auckland and Special Advisor to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee of the House of Representatives, New Zealand) and Aidan O'Neill (QC (Scot.), QC (E&W), BL (Ireland). The episode is chaired by John Hudson (Professor of Legal History, University of St Andrews).

    • 47 min

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