Popular Sovereignty and the Constitutional Reform Agenda

Abstract The constitutional reform agenda in England tends to focus on the key institutions of the existing state—the legislature and the executive, in particular. Consequently, proposals to change the constitution congregate around the House of Lords, the voting system and, to a lesser extent, the civil service. Drawing on the account of the essential rights of the sovereign in Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan , this article argues for a more expansive conception of the constitution, which encompasses institutions that are not usually high on the reform agenda. It highlights the centrality of ‘the government of Doctrines’ and ‘the Power of raising of Mony’ to Hobbesian sovereignty and explores the implications of Leviathan 's account for the BBC and the Bank of England.