Congratulations to Professor Iain McLean, whose book, What’s Wrong with the British Constitution? has won one of the two Political Studies Association W.J.M. Mackenzie Book Prizes awarded this year.

The jurors summarized the following reasons for the award:

“A very acute, thought-provoking book written with verve, wit and clarity. It has the following aims: to demolish Dicey’s theory of parliamentary sovereignty; to demonstrate that received wisdom about the peaceful, incremental and evolutionary character of UK constitutional development is at best a partial and one-sided view; to show the relevance of ‘veto player theory’ to understanding the operations of the UK political system; and   to provide a manifesto (and programme) for constitutional reform. The contradictions between Dicey’s theory and his actual behaviour are well brought out and his depiction of what he convincing portrays as ‘as a successful coup against the elected government of the UK’ over Home Rule immediately prior to the First World war demolishes the orthodoxy about peaceful constitutional evolution. The ‘veto player theory’ adds an embryonic basis for a different starting point to our understanding of the political system. The programme for constitutional reform follows from the logic of the historical analysis and adds to the contemporary relevance of this book. It is a thought-provoking study and offers a compelling challenge to conventional thinking about the UK’s constitutional trajectory. McLean deals with crucial issues over the future of British democracy so the book deserves a wide readership”.

The award will be presented at the PSA annual awards dinner in November 2011 to mark the achievements of politicians, academics and journalists during the last twelve months. The event will be compered by Jon Snow from Channel 4 News and will also be televised.

The book was published by Oxford University Press in 2009.

Professor Iain McLean is Professor of Politics, Official Fellow, Nuffield College