- Vernon Bogdanor
Vernon Bogdanor CBE, FBA (born 1943) is professor of government at
Oxford University ,England , and a Fellow ofBrasenose College . He is one of Britain's foremost constitutional experts and has written extensively on political andconstitutional issues. He is an advocate of constitutional reform includingproportional representation , but supports the retention of themonarchy .Career
Educated at
Bishopshalt School , Professor Bogdanor gained hisBachelor of Arts inPhilosophy, Politics, and Economics (with congratulatory First Class honours) fromThe Queen's College, Oxford . He has been Fellow and Tutor in Politics at Brasenose College, Oxford, since 1966, where he has been Senior Tutor (1979-85 and 1996-97), Vice-Principal, and (in 2002-03) Acting Principal. He is a Fellow of theBritish Academy , an Honorary Fellow of theSociety for Advanced Legal Studies , and in 1998 was awarded the CBE for contributions to constitutional history.He has been a Member of Council of The
Hansard Society for Parliamentary Government, Specialist Adviser to theHouse of Lords Select Committee on the European Communities, Member of the Court ofEssex University , Adviser (as a member of theCouncil of Europe andAmerican Bar Association delegations) to the governments of theCzech Republic ,Hungary ,Israel andSlovakia on constitutional and electoral reform, Member of the Academic Panel of Local Authority Associations, Member of the The Hansard Society Commission on the Legislative Process, Member of the UK Government delegation on Democratic Institutions in Central and Eastern Europe and Conference on the Protection of Minorities, Consultant toIndependent Television News (ITN) on the General Election, Member of theEconomic and Social Research Council ’s committee administering the 'Whitehall' programme, Special Adviser to the House of Commons Select Committee on the Public Services, Member of the Swedish Constitutional Reform Project, Member of the Advisory Group to the High Commissioner on National Minorities, Adviser to the President ofTrinidad on the Constitution of Trinidad, and Member of the ESRC's committee administering the Devolution programme.Professor Bogdanor is a frequent contributor to TV, radio and newspapers. In 2004 he gave public lectures as professor of law at
Gresham College , London. He has published numerous books and articles. In 2003, he edited "The British Constitution in the 20th Century" (published byOxford University Press to mark the centenary of the British Academy) and has two publications planned for 2004 and 2005: "The Governance of Britain" (Allen Lane /Penguin Books ) and "Holistic Government" (Oxford University Press for the British Academy).Professor Bogdanor is a signatory of the
Henry Jackson Society , a think tank based in Cambridge. The society advocates a pro-active approach to the spread of liberal democracy throughout the world, including by military force where necessary.Famous students
Professor Bogdanor's most famous former student is the current Conservative Party leader
David Cameron whom he has described as "one of the ablest" students he has taught, whose political views were "moderate and sensible Conservative" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4502656.stm] . Professor Bogdanor has, however, expressed reservations about certain policies of Cameron's, notably his proposal for a British "Bill of Rights", about which Bogdanor said, "I believe it's ill thought-out and confused ... He [Cameron] may have forgotten some of the things I've taught him. I'd be happy to give him a few more tutorials on civil liberties." [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/conservatives/story/0,,1806784,00.html] .Books
* "Constitutions in democratic politics"
* "Devolution in the United Kingdom"
* "Joined up government"
* "The monarchy and the constitution"
* "What is Proportional Representation?"
* "Power and the people: Guide to constitutional reform"ee also
* list of Gresham Professors of Law
External links
* [http://www.gresham.ac.uk/text.asp?PageId=28 Gresham College - Professor Vernon Bogdanor]
* [http://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/about/staff/staff.asp?action=show&person=87 Oxford University Staff Directory]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/monarchy/story/0,2763,407484,00.html "Guardian" op-ed by Bogdanor in defence of the monarchy]
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