Civilian authority over the military in the U.K. is a model of the modern constitutional abstraction, the unattached reins of the O.G. liberal democracy. What a good time to remind ourselves that Britain is a stable polity, but England alone was not.
This is the last paragraph. I don’t understand what it is saying or how it is relevant. Can someone explain it to me please?
Well, there are 5 separate links in that sentence.
As to what’s actually being said… Well, the unattached reins line kind of spells it out. The civilian oversight theoretically has the power to rein the police in, but in reality… Well. That’s the rub.
The sentence ends on a note about Briton (being made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) being a more stable government than England alone. This is just facts. The English have never been known for good or effective government. Brutal and exploitive, yes. Good, no.
