Tory Travails and Collegiate Confusion: The Oxford University Election of 1722*

In terms of the unreformed franchise operative in the early 18th century, the University of Oxford made up an unusual parliamentary constituency. Here it was the votes of non-resident members that could be decisive to the outcome if the seat was contested. In late Stuart and early Hanoverian Oxford, Tories were almost certain to be returned but, in the general election of 1722, the Tory vote was split between rival candidates offering a possible opening for Oxford Whigs. This essay considers the varieties of electoral behaviour inside the university at this time of exceptional political flux nationally, how the candidates confronted the practical problem of getting ‘outvoters’ into Oxford, and the extent to which the heads of the colleges could rely on a sufficiently stable corporate identity to have their resident members vote in an approved way. The 1722 general election again raised questions as to who exactly was entitled to vote in a university constituancy, how much illegal voting was going on, and whether it was in a candidate's best interests either to connive or draw attention to it. The eventual choices made by the Oxford electorate would signal where the university stood in the wider political picture of the early 1720s, how far it – and the varieties of toryism it contained – was prepared to endorse the legitimacy of the new Hanoverian order.     

The politics of lowering the voting age in Australia: Evaluating the evidence

There is a vigorous international debate about lowering the voting age to 16, with some jurisdictions already moving in this direction. The issue of the voting age also intersects with broader normative and empirical approaches to youth political engagement. Using evidence from Australia, this article evaluates empirically the arguments put forward for lowering the voting age. The findings suggest only partial support for lowering the voting age to bring it into line with other government-regulated activities. There is no evidence that lowering the voting age would increase political participation or that young people are more politically mature today than they were in the past. The absence of empirical support for the arguments in favour of lowering of the voting age has implications for how to transform democracy in order to attract greater youth engagement.

是否把选举年龄降到16岁,国际上有着激烈的辩论。有些法律体系已在朝这个方向运动。选举年龄的话题与更广泛的、有关青年政治参与的规范性及经验性研究有所交集。本文根据澳大利亚的资料,从实证的角度评论了主张降低投票年龄的观点。本文的发见仅部分支持降低选举年龄与有关政府法规的接轨。现在无法证明降低选举年龄会提高政治参与,也无法证明今天的年轻人比过去的年轻人政治上更成熟。降低选举年龄的主张缺少实证的支持,那么该如何改变民主制度以吸引年轻人更多的参与呢？     

Managers and Agents: Conservative Party Organisation in the 1850s*

During the 1850s in the wake of the calamitous Peelite split, Britain's Conservative Party struggled to rebuild its numbers in the house of commons. The structure of the party's electoral organisation is well known‐parliamentary leaders, election managers such as Sir William Jolliffe and Philip Rose, plus local constituency based agents. Jolliffe's and Rose's 1859 election notebooks help understand this, but they also reveal serious gaps in the Conservatives' information networks. This article delineates the electoral activities of Sir John Yarde Buller (first Baron Churston) and his ally Samuel Triscott, who supplemented the spasmodic flow of information from small boroughs in at least two counties. Mid‐level or second‐tier managers, to whom no attention has previously been given, assisted the Conservatives in their gradual electoral recovery. Their roles also suggest that the party's organization may have been more complex than previously believed.     

‘Shew Yourselves as Men’: Gender,Citizenship and Political Propaganda in the 1773 and 1774 Worcester Election Contests

This case study of the 1773 and 1774 election contests in the city of Worcester investigates how members of the local oligarchy, and the political opposition to that oligarchy, drew on contemporary discourses on citizenship to convince the electorate that their candidate would become a worthy representative of their city in parliament, and to refute the claims of their opponents. Since independence was absolutely essential to the voters’ identities as male householder citizens, this became the main issue of conflict. The candidate of the opposition interest, Sir Watkin Lewes, sought to establish himself as the guardian of the independence of the citizens of Worcester against the corrupt corporation. The candidates of the corporation, Thomas Bates Rous and his successor, Colonel Nicholas Lechmere, instead claimed that Lewes was the real threat, as his anti‐corruption campaign deprived the voters of the usual fruits of the election. While such claims also entailed an appeal by the local elite to the financial interest of the voters, the need to justify this incentive ideologically, and the high portion of voters who turned their backs on their patrons, does suggest the power embedded in the concept of citizenship in the political life at the level of the localities. Gendered and classed conceptions of citizenship, furthermore, were employed as offensive weapons in the political propaganda surrounding the elections, as each faction sought to discredit the other by claiming that they were neither manly enough, nor of the proper social status, to qualify as worthy political subjects. Thus, citizenship was not only fundamentally gendered in the masculine, but also highly hierarchical and equally intertwined with contemporary notions of class.     

Scottish Representation in the Protectorate Parliaments: The Case of the Shires

The 30 MPs elected for Scotland in the Cromwellian parliaments of 1654, 1656 and 1659 have often been seen as government‐sponsored placemen, foisted on constituencies by the military. Some were Scottish collaborators, but most were English carpetbaggers. Restrictions on voter qualifications, designed to weed out suspected royalists, and opposition to English rule among the Scots, further contributed to what has been described as the antithesis of representation, a ‘hollow sham’. This article revisits the question of Scottish representation in this period through the analysis of the surviving indentures for the shire elections of 1656. These documents – of which 17 of the 20 survive – give the date of election, the name of the presiding officer (usually the sheriff) and details of principal electors, often with signatures and seals attached. Four constituencies are used as case studies: Peeblesshire and Selkirkshire, Ayrshire and Renfrewshire, Perthshire, and Fife and Kinross. Each constituency had a distinct response to Cromwellian rule and to the parliamentary elections, but general themes emerge: the restrictions on voters were totally ignored; direct interference by the English authorities was rare; and the elections were dominated by local political and religious disputes between the Scots themselves. This analysis further suggests that there was no unified Scottish interest at this time, that local differences overrode other considerations, and that in many cases, choosing an Englishman as MP could be the least controversial option, as well as that most likely to secure influence at Westminster.     

‘Whatever Passed in Parliament Ought to be Communicated to the Public’: Reporting the Proceedings of the Reformed Commons, 1833–50

This article considers the opening up of parliamentary proceedings to greater public scrutiny in the two decades after the 1832 Reform Act. It examines developments in the publication of parliamentary debates, considering why proposals for an official parliamentary record were rejected in the 1830s. It also discusses two less well‐studied but equally vital means of publicising parliamentary activity: the publication of official division lists and the sale to the public of parliamentary papers. It argues that the 1830s was a critical decade of change, influenced by shifting perceptions of the relationship between the reformed house of commons and those it sought to represent. This was driven, in particular, by liberal notions of the importance of parliamentary accountability to public opinion: MPs were increasingly aware of the need to keep constituents informed of their parliamentary activities, whether in the chamber, committee room or division lobby. This article also highlights the extent to which the Commons' approach to publicising its activities was constrained not only by the fact that it remained a breach of parliamentary privilege to publish reports of debates, but also by the physical space that the Commons occupied. The destruction of much of the old Palace of Westminster by fire in 1834 provided an important opportunity to remodel existing arrangements, notably with the addition of a second division lobby and the construction of a reporters' gallery.     

Party Policy Positions in Newfoundland and Labrador: Expert Survey Results in the Buildup to the 2011 Provincial Election

In this article, we present the estimates of the party policy positions derived from two surveys: an expert survey and a voter survey, which were conducted in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador immediately prior to the October 2011 provincial election. The experts and the sample of voters were asked to situate the major political parties on eight policy dimensions and to rank the importance of each policy area. The results of the study present not only a map of party policy space and voter preference in Newfoundland and Labrador but also an indication of party policy awareness in the province.     

全面抗战前央地关系视域下的南京国民政府省制变革

全面抗战前南京国民政府省制变革是近代中国省制变革的一个重要历史阶段。这一时期,大体经历了南京国民政府初期的省区分治与权势平衡、二次北伐完成后关于省财权人事权和军事权的央地博弈与武力纷争、中原大战后集权与分治的微妙平衡三个阶段的演变。南京政府正常的省权制度变革无法有序展开,在体制内却只能依靠军事和战争手段解决。这是最下策之下策,而且无法真正有效解决省权过大问题。直到全面抗战前夕,省制变革一直成为牵引中国时局演化与社会变动的中枢和焦点问题。     

国民政府时期的西北考察家及其著作述评

国民政府时期,在民族危机和“开发西北”的呼声下,一大批考察家来到西北。在极其困难的条件下,他们用力所能及的方式对这块土地进行了深入细致的考察,对当时西北的一些突出社会问题进行了详细记载和独到的剖析,在当时社会上引起了很大反响,为人们认识西北、开发西北起了很重要的先导作用。同时他们坚韧不拔、肯吃苦的献身精神,很值得我们学习和继承。     

抗日战争时期日本在台湾的公债政策研究

抗战时期日本在中国台湾发行了大量的公债,并利用金融机构进行吸纳,从而制约了台湾经济的发展,掠夺台湾人民,并将台湾经济纳入日本战时经济体系之中。     

朝野纠葛:北京政府时期的舆论与外交--以关税特别会议为个案的考察

关于北京政府时期的外交,尽管学术界近来已开始有了较为客观的评价,不过对于其背后因素的考察还有待深入。实际上,在北京政府时期,由于特殊的时代背景,各种社会舆论被全面动员起来,以汹涌澎湃之势冲击着外交这一特殊的政治领域,从而形成了近代史上国民外交的黄金时期。于是,由于中央政府统治的虚弱,在其决策者进行外交运作时,就处处受到来自舆论界的影响,这是一个极为明显的历史特色,通过对当时舆论的考察,就会更深层次地探究北京政府外交的两难境地。笔者在考察时,主要以关税特别会议为个案,以上海舆论为核心,以《申报》、《东方杂志》等报刊为第一手资料。     

从阿拉善旗专员到军事专员:南京国民政府介入蒙旗地方政治的尝试

为防止日本侵略势力的渗透,南京国民政府创设了阿拉善旗专员制度。因专员在派驻过程中,遭遇层层阻碍,最终被迫改置为军事专员,权责缩减。专员制度作为南京国民政府介入阿拉善旗地方政治的首次尝试,其尴尬境地也反映了在缺乏稳定环境与足够控制力的条件下,边疆政治整合所面临的困境。军事专员虽远未实现其设置的预期目的,但客观上有利于加强中央与阿拉善旗地方联系,从而有效地维护了边疆主权与统一。     

A Great Electioneer and His Motives Reconsidered: The 4th Duke of Newcastle

The 4th duke of Newcastle (1785–1851) is recognized as one of the most prominent peers with electoral influence in early-19th-century Britain. This essay considers the way in which he deployed that influence and the purposes to which it was turned. The essay explains why Newcastle became a leading symbol of the campaign for parliamentary reform and details the nature of his opposition to the bill which eventually became the ‘Great’ Reform Act of 1832. In some respects, Newcastle was an atypical electioneer, because he was less overtly concerned with the desire for office, patronage, or income. On the other hand, the methods by which that influence was deployed, and the anti-reform purposes to which it was turned, meant that he was inevitably numbered among the reactionary forces opposing political change in this period.     

中国银行与南京国民政府早期关系

中国银行从民国初年成立后即发挥着中央银行的重要作用,1928年南京国民政府对中国银行的第一次改组,使得中国银行由国家银行转制为国际汇兑专业银行,1935年的第二次改组后又使得中国银行成为国民党“四行二局”金融统制体系的重要组成部分。这两次改组对中国银行的性质和地位的变化产生了决定性的影响,也比较突出地体现了旧中国金融业与中央政府关系的演变过程。     

Lobbying and minority government in Australia: The concept of the marginal member

Within Westminster-based majority parliaments, the presence of minority government runs contrary to the conventional wisdom. Over the last 40 years, however, there has been a steady voting trend away from major parties in many of these parliaments. The complex composition of the Australian Senate after July 2014 reinforces that non-ministerial marginal members continue to be a vital part of the political landscape. This article introduces the concept of the marginal member and examines the potential influence of these members for legislative outcomes and lobbying success. In doing so, the article provides a heuristic through which to identify avenues of policy influence and presents a range of strategies for lobbyists working with marginal members within minority-government contexts.

在英式多数制议会内,少数党政府的存不符合传统的智慧。在以往40年里,许多英式议会出现了一种偏离多数党的稳定趋势。澳大利亚参院2014年之后的复杂构成,说明非内阁边缘成员依然是政治格局中有活力的部分。本文提出了边缘成员的概念,考察了他们对立法结果及游说成败的潜在影响力。本文提供了一种关于政策影响渠道的思路,以及在少数党政府的情况下如何游说边缘成员的一系列办法。     

南京政府行政督察专员制度的法制考察

南京政府行政督察专员制度,是近代中国社会转型过程中的重要的地方政府转型与制度改革。就专员的资格与任期、职权与辖区、组织与经费等方面考察,专员制的法制功能是显而易见的。然专员制度的法律设计与实际状况之间无疑存在着一定的偏离状态,但这种偏离没有影响到该制度的基本运作,因而专员制度的法制状态应是正常的或基本正常的。专员制度是中国地方政府制度历史长河中发展演变的重要一环,也是中国地方政府从传统体制向现代体制过渡的重要一步。而且．专员制度的变革,也凸现了民国时期社会转型的历史画卷。     

南京国民政府国庆纪念中的辛亥记忆

国庆纪念是传承辛亥革命记忆的重要形式。南京国民政府时期,国民党通过国庆纪念仪式,不断打造并唤起人们的辛亥记忆;并通过自己所掌握的话语权与纪念宣传,完成对辛亥革命史事及意义的再建构。借助于辛亥记忆,国民党不断把自己的建国理念贯穿于国庆纪念之中,为国民党统治的合法性确立基础。     

仪式政治:国民党与南京国民政府对孙中山的祭祀典礼

国民党与南京国民政府为标榜是孙中山民主革命思想与事业的合法继承者,把孙中山从“总理”推尊演绎成了“国父”圣符,并为之举行了逝世纪念、奉安纪念与诞辰纪念三种典礼仪式。从仪式政治与国家祭祀的角度对前两种典礼仪式进行系统的史学考察,并挖掘和诠释其表象背后的政治思想与社会文化内蕴,不仅有利于把握“后孙中山时代”民国官方对孙中山政治遗产的利用与运作体系,而且有利于继承和弘扬孙中山的民主革命精神与思想。