What is the English Constitution? The Answer of John James Park in the Crucial Year 1832

Abstract

From the 1688 revolution to the beginning of 19th century, the English constitution underwent a deep transformation. While the divine right of Kings and the royal prerogative waned, the role of Prime Minister and rule by Cabinet became paramount; a two-party system gradually imposed itself in the new-born “Great Britain”. But this essential change went nearly unobserved by political thinkers and jurists of the time, with the notable exception of J.J. Park, who published The Dogmas of the Constitution, a sharp denunciation of the gap between theoretical and actual constitution, in 1832, the year of the Great Reform Act.