ABSTRACT
this is a study of the position of the House of Lords and proposals for its reform or abolition or limitation of its powers that have been made in modern times in the light of prevailing theories of the nature and characteristics of the English government. Except for the interlude of the Puritan Revolution, in which a great variety of proposals affecting the House of Lords appeared, their number before 1832 was surprisingly limited. The thesis of this study is that a major reason why so few political reformers questioned the position of the House of Lords before 1832 was their acceptance of the prevailing constitutional theory of mixed government and the role assigned to the House of Lords in its maintenance.
