Full browser width list, but text has max-width - html

Question

I have a full browser width list with a background color (which changes color on hover). However I want the li text to be text-align:left, have a max-width and the left and right margins to be equal – but the background color to still be full browser width. How do I do this?
I have made a JSfiddle here.
As soon as I put a max-width on the li, the background color will obviously shrink to the max-width. Is there a way to just target the text within the list?
<div class="case_study_links">
<ul>
<li>Abbey Meadow Flowers<br>Helping to grow a sustainable florists</li>
<li>Collins Environmental<br>Differentiating ecologists from competitors</li>
<li>University of Oxford<br>Branding for research project on young migrants</li>
<li>Small Woods<br>New brand brings credibility to organisation</li>
<li>Good Energy<br>Rebranding helps double customer numbers</li>
</ul>
</div>
.case_study_links li {
list-style: none;
font-size:1.8rem;
text-align:left;
border-top:1px solid white;
}
.case_study_links a:link { color:white; display:block; padding:4.8rem 0; background-color:rgb(149,199,201);}
.case_study_links a:visited { color:white; display:block; padding:4.8rem 0; background-color:rgb(149,199,201);}
.case_study_links a:hover { color:white; display:block; padding:4.8rem 0; background-color:rgb(134,179,181);}
.case_study_links a:active { color:white; display:block; padding:4.8rem 0; background-color:rgb(134,179,181);}

Answer 1

wrap Your text in a <span class="myTexts"> and add css properties to it:
.myTexts
{
max-width:100px; // or anything you want
margin:auto
}

Answer 2

U have your CSS on wrong levels:
Define background-color on the ul (maybe width: 100%; too, didn't test)
Define borders and width: 100%; on the li
Define max-width: ; on the a, or the elements within a
As suggested, you could wrap a part of the text in a span element.
I would refrain from using "br", you could do this:
<li><p>Abbey Meadow Flowers</p><p>Helping to grow a sustainable florists</p></li>
Change the P elements accordingly for semantic HTML to H1,H2,H3,span,p, etc.
Note that span is an inline element, and will not automatically take up full width. Use display: block; in your CSS to fix this