Anthony H. Birch, who was Professor in UVic’s political science department from 1977 until 1989, and Chair from 1981 to 1986, passed away on Dec. 13, 2014 at the age of 90.
Over the course of a long and distinguished career, he published numerous articles and 8 books—all single authored. His Representative and Responsible Government (1964) and
later British System of Government (published in ten editions) remain central texts on UK politics and represent a particular tradition of British political studies, rooted in history and in
the main canons of traditional political theory. He was also a student of comparative federalism, nationalism and regional integration. His books and articles on these subjects have been
very relevant to contemporary debates in Britain about Scottish and Welsh devolution. His last book, The Concepts and Theories of Modern Democracy, was published in a revised third edition in
2007, when Tony was well into his 80s.