ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to place impeachment within its historical context and show through the use of examples how impeachment operated at different times in English and British history and the purpose that it served. This will help inform the discussion on what form a revised procedure of impeachment should take. This chapter consists of four examples that have been selected to demonstrate the changing nature of impeachment in the seventeenth to early nineteenth centuries. The focus of this chapter is to inform the understanding of impeachment for the purposes of the book and its role in buttressing accountability at various stages of English and British history. When considering each example, a number of questions will be addressed. First, whether impeachment enabled the House of Commons to hold the executive to account. Second, whether it was used as an alternative to, or in conjunction with, the other accountability mechanisms. Third, how the impeachment was perceived at the time and what this tells us about the nature of impeachment. Fourth, how the use of impeachment in the example can inform our understanding of impeachment for the twenty-first century. These questions will help reflect on the changing purpose of impeachment and the perceived strengths and weaknesses with its use.
