Further Reading
To help you find out more about republicanism, constitutional reform, the monarchy and other issues raised on our website, we have collated a number of book titles, articles and websites for further reading.
If you would like to suggest additional items which we could include please send an email to enquiries@republic.org.uk, with information about the item and which category you think it should be listed under.
The case for a republic
- Republic's proposed constitutional model
- Republic Replies
- The British Constitution
- Models of republics
An outline of the republican model proposed by Republic.
Republic's answers to many of the most common arguments put by monarchists.
An overview of the British constitution and the powers it grants government and monarchy.
A brief outline of the various models of republic which Britain can choose to adopt.
- Duchy of Lancaster
- Duchy of Cornwall Finances
- Bona Vacantia website
Official site of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Duchy of Cornwall's official site where they detail their own financial reports
The government's Bona Vacantia website, from the Treasury Solicitor's Department
- How We Should Rule Ourselves
- The English Constitution, originally published 1867
- Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution
This pamphlet, co-written by Republic supporter Professor Adam Tomkins, argues that the component nations of the United Kingdom can become true democracies only by declaring themselves republics.
Bagehot's celebrated account of the history and working of the English constitution is often cited by monarchists in support of our present system. For that reason it is essential reading for republicans.
In this seminal work, Dicey describes a political system based not on enforceable rules of law but on convention and custom.
- Ekklesia website
- National Secular Society website
- Interview with Rowan Williams
List of articles on disestablishment by the staff of Christian think-tank Ekklesia, which campaigns for a fully secular state.
Website of the National Secular Society, a pressure group campaigning for a complete separation of church and state.
New Statesman interview with Rowan Williams in which he recognises the case for disestablishment.
- Commonwealth Secretariat website
- The Queen and the Commonwealth
- The Commonwealth on Directgov
Website of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the main intergovernmental agency of the Commonwealth.
Page on 'The Queen and the Commonwealth' from the monarchy's official site.
Page on the Commonwealth from the government's Directgov site.
- Republic group urges transparency over Prince Charles's lobbying
- Royal secrets withheld under revised information rules
A report from the Times on Republic's campaign against FOI restrictions.
A report from the Independent on Sunday on Republic's opposition to new FOI rules.
- Official Honours website
- They'd really rather not: roll call of the honours refuseniks
- Why do we have honours
- PAC report: Reforming the Honours System [pdf]
- The New Year Honours system is a corrupt farce
This is the government website which explains the different kinds of honours and how they can be awarded.
Times article listing people who have declined honours
Independent article explaining the honours system
The full House of Commons Public Administration Committee report on the honours system
Independent article by John Lidstone
- Tom Paine's Common Sense
- Liberty
- Unlock Democracy
Thomas Paine's hugely successful pamphlet Common Sense put forward in simple language a theory of natural rights and justice that inspired the American Revolution. See in particular the section 'On the Origin and Design of Government' in which he criticises the concept of 'constitutional monarchy'.
An independent human rights organisation which works to defend and extend rights and freedoms in England and Wales.
Unlock democracy is an independent campaign for Rights, Freedoms and a Written Constitution.
- Mail on Sunday report on William's Chinook flight
- Telegraph report on William's Chinook flight
The Duchy of Cornwall's official site where they detail their own financial reports
This is the Sunday Telegraph report on William's misuse of an RAF Chinook helicopter, as exposed by Republic's Freedom of Information work
- Republic's proposed model
- The constitution of Ireland
- The constitution of Germany [pdf]
- The constitution of France
- The constitution of the United States
- The constitution of Switzerland
The model of republican constitution proposed by Republic.
The Irish constitution, from the Irish government website.
The German constitution, from the German parliament website.
The French constitution, from the French parliament website.
The United States constitution, from the Cornell University Law School website.
The Swiss constitution, from the website of the The Federal Authorities of the Swiss Confederation .
- The case for a republic
- Republic Replies
- God Save the Queen?
The case for a republican constitution for Britain.
Republic's answers to many of the most common arguments put by monarchists.
Johann Hari argues that the tragicomic soap opera that is the monarchy devalues the Windsors themselves and 21st century Britain as a whole.
- Sworn to the Queen
- Parliamentary Oaths research paper [pdf]
- What the oaths say
- Challenge the Oath
This New Statesman article by Ted Vallance puts oaths of allegiance into historical context.
Research paper by the House of Commons Library which outlines the main objections to the Parliamentary Oath.
A full break down of what the various oaths of allegiance say.
Republic's 'Challenge the Oath' campaign page.
- Ipsos Mori
- Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust's 'State of the Nation' poll [pdf]
Archive of polls undertaken by Ipsos Mori. Search for 'monarchy' in the keyword box.
Executive Summary of the 2004 State of the Nation poll, which measured public opinion on issues of democracy and constitutional reform.
- The Sale of the Late Kings Goods: Charles I and his art collection
- Let them eat crumbs
- Royal Collection website
Jerry Brotton's critically acclaimed book explores the formation and dispersal of King Charles I's art collection It also reflects on the current status of the royal art collection.
The Guardian's art critic Jonathan Jones explains why the public should have greater access to the royal collection.
The official website of the royal collection
- Official Buckingham Palace Financial Report
- Duchy of Cornwall Finances
- Living off the State
- Royal Fortune: Tax, Money and the Monarchy
- Secret deals that obscure the royal finances
- First look at royal finances fails to satisfy MPs
This is a page on the official Monarchy website where they post the official financial reports
The Duchy of Cornwall's official site where they detail their own financial reports
A detailed examination of the official finances of the British monarch and leading members of the royal family.
A book written in the early 1990s looking at the royal finances.
Guardian report from 2002 on the secrecy of royal finances.
Independent report on the first royal financial reports released in 2002.
- Transcript of Public Accounts Committee meetingon maintaining occupied palaces
- Historic Royal Palaces
- Crown Estates
This is the official transcript of the Public Accounts Commitee meeting held on 26th January 2009
Official website of Historic Royal Palaces, the body which runs and maintains Hampton Court and Tower of London among many other such sites
Official website of the Crown Estates, the body which manages Crown Estate property
- Telegraph report on VisitBritain survey
- Royal Tourism: Excursions Around Monarchy (Tourism and Cultural Change)
This is a Telegraph report on a survey conducted by VisitBritain which showed the monarchy is not a significant factor in attracting tourists
This volume breaks new ground in its critical exploration of the relationships between royalty and tourism past, present and future from a range of disciplinary perspectives.
- Putney Debates
- Tom Paine's Rights of Man
- Political writings of John Milton
- Chartism, Edward Royle
- Britain since 1918
The Levellers' famous debates with Cromwell at St Mary's church in Putney were followed by violent suppression. This transcript is introduced by renowned human-rights lawyer and Republic supporter Geoffrey Robertson.
Thomas Paine's Rights of Man is the classic denunciation of the unnatural inequalities fostered by the hereditary and monarchical systems. He believed that government must be by and for the people and must limit itself to the protection of their natural rights.
The poet John Milton was also a brave and eloquent defender of republican principles. See particularly 'Eikonoklastes' and 'The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates'.
Chartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century. This text has established itself as the best short account of the Chartist movement available.
David Marquand tells the story of democratic politics in Britain since the coming of universal male suffrage and partial female suffrage in 1918. He identifies democratic republicanism as one of the key strands in British political thought.
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