Monarchy and the British political elite : closet republicans in the House of Commons

Norbauer, Ryan and Studlar, Donley (2011) Monarchy and the British political elite : closet republicans in the House of Commons. Comparative Politics, 43 (2). pp. 225-242. ISSN 0010-4159 (https://doi.org/10.5129/001041511793931825)

Full text not available in this repository.Request a copy

Abstract

Until now, no academic study has explored the extent and nature of antimonarchism in the British House of Commons. In a statistically representative survey sample, 44 percent of all Members of Parliament identified themselves as "republicans," nearly twice the share in the British public at large. However, 86 percent called this a personal opinion only. While there may not be a groundswell of active republicanism in the Commons, a substantial group of sympathetic MPs exists who might be willing to seize on a future public crisis in the monarchy in order to effect reforms. Lacking party leadership support, republican MPs are not optimistic about change in the short-to-medium term.

CORE (COnnecting REpositories)