Knowledge and Power: The Parliamentary Representation of Universities and the Empire presents the first comprehensive account of how universities held seats in Britain's Parliament between the 17th and 20th centuries and how the idea of university representation spread throughout the British Empire. * Represents the first systematic study of a significant but largely neglected institution which was part of the British constitution for 350 years * Sheds new light on the uneven and paradoxical processes of British political modernization * Features a detailed case study of the trans-imperial dissemination and adaptation of British constitutional ideas and practices * Supplemented with detailed appendices on the representation of universities in Britain, Ireland, America, and India