Electioneering,the Third Reform Act,and Political Change in the 1880s*

This article investigates the impact of the 1883–5 electoral reforms on the political culture of elections and electioneering in the constituencies, using the borough of Ipswich as its focus. It argues that historians have underestimated the extent to which the Franchise and Redistribution Acts of 1884–5 transformed political cultures outside the countryside and large cities, and that the Corrupt Practices Act of 1883 had a major impact on the modernisation of party organisation. Principally, however, it challenges the prevailing historical consensus that the basis of post‐reform constituency politics remained, to a large extent, local in nature, by suggesting that electioneering cultures were placed under considerable ‘nationalising’ influences from the early 1880s on. Rather than resisting these influences, the established Ipswich parties largely embraced them. Moreover, a general decline in corruption, and a general increase in the number of speeches reported in local newspapers from ‘carpetbagger’ candidates and national leaders, created a climate in which it was now more difficult for any constituency, however idiosyncratic, to insulate itself from ‘national’ politics.     

The Genesis of the 1906 Trades Disputes Act: Liberalism, Trade Unions, and the Law

The Trades Disputes Act of 1906 occupies an important positionin the history of trade unionism, industrial relations, andlabour politics. Far less attention has been devoted to itsplace in the development of Liberal politics. Historians ofliberalism tend to portray the act as an uninteresting reversionto the pre-Taff Vale position and symptomatic merely of theparty's desire to placate labour. This article suggests thatexisting accounts of the Act's genesis place insufficient emphasison its Liberal origins and that arguments about trade unionlaw provide important insights into the character of the partyand its creed. The argument is in three parts. The first considersthe constraints on liberal legislators. The second investigatesthe meaning of the debates surrounding the Act's passage. Itrestores the Act to its proper intellectual context by recoveringthe variety of views about trade union law present in Edwardianliberalism. The last section uses these arguments to demonstrateboth the resilience of radicalism within the party and the emergenceof a novel social democratic progressivism. Only thus, it isclaimed, is it possible to understand the passage and meaningof the Act. * A number of people have helped in the preparation of thisarticle. I would like to thank David Armutage, Eugeruo Biagiru,Elizabeth Emens, Jon Lawrence, Nomi Levy, Alastair Reid, EmmaRothschild, Lisa Tiersen and Philip Waller I benefited greatlyfrom the comments of the anonymous referees and the assistanceof the editors of Twentieth Century British History. I owe aspecial debt of gratitude to David Cannadine, Peter Clarke andVictoria de Grazia.     

Political language in Italy and Great Britain

Abstract

Patrick McCarthy underlined the role of political language in the crisis of the Italian Republic. It was both a reflection of the crisis and an active agent of political change. A study of Berlusconi's political language reveals the importance of his new, simplified style of political communication in the creation of his party Forza Italia and of his own personal charisma. He has been able to adapt his rhetoric to changing political circumstances and to different publics. Romano Prodi was successful in 1996 in constructing his image as the ‘anti-Berlusconi’, and Walter Veltroni also broke with the old style of hermetic political discourse acknowledging the inspiration both of Robert Kennedy and Tony Blair, but the language of the centre-left in recent years has generally failed to convey a clear message and has perpetuated obscurity in order to conceal its internal divisions. A comparison with the political language of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair reveals interesting similarities and differences. Thatcher, like Berlusconi, appealed to the need for national revival in the face of the threat from the left, but her language, unlike his, was rooted in the tradition of Protestant individualism and invigorated rather than challenging the existing party system. Blair managed to make skilful use of a new rhetoric of emotion and to incorporate elements of Thatcher's appeal in his ‘new Labour’ synthesis. In conclusion: McCarthy was deeply preoccupied with the possibility of an alternative and more honest style of political communication.     

Human Encumbrances: Political Violence and the Great Irish Famine

Colonial Encounters: Europe and the Native Caribbean, 1492–1797 by Peter Hulme. London: Methuen, 1986. Pp. xi + 399; maps and illus. £25.

The Aggressions of the French at Tahiti and other Islands in the Pacific, by George Pritchard, edited by Paul De Deckker. Auckland: Oxford University Press (New Zealand), 1985. Pp.253. £35.00.

A History of Christianity in India 1707–1858 by Stephen Neill. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985. Pp. xiv + 578. £45.

Out of the House of Bondage: Runaways, Resistance and Marronage in Africa and the New World edited by Gad Heuman. London: Frank Cass &; Co., 1986. Pp. vii + 199; maps. £19.50.

Victorian Shipping, Business and Imperial Policy: Donald Currie, the Castle Line and Southern Africa by A.N. Porter. Royal Historical Society Studies in History 49. Woodbridge: Boydell &; Brewer, 1986. Pp. 332. £29.50.

Speculators and Patriots: Essays in Business Biography edited by R.P.T. Davenport‐Hines, London: Frank Cass &; Co.Ltd., 1986. Pp. viii + 139. £21.00.

Julius Vogel, Business Politician by Raewyn Dalziel. Auckland: Auckland University Press and Oxford University Press, 1986. Pp. 368, illus. NZ $45.00.

Kipling and ‘Orientalism’ by B.J. Moore‐Gilbert. London: Croom Helm, 1986. Pp. 228; £18.95.

The Imperial Imagination, Magic and Myth in Kipling's India by Lewis D. Wurgraft. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1986. Pp.xxi + 211; £7.95.

A Short History of Tasmania by L.L. Robson. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1986. Pp.xii + 189. £7.95.

Horace Plunkett, Co‐operation and Politics: An Irish Biography by Trevor West. Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1986. Pp. xviii + 288, illus. £12.95.

The Canadian Career of the Fourth Earl of Minto: The Education of a Viceroy by Carman Miller. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1980. Pp.225.

Lord Minto's Canadian Papers: A Selection of the Public and Private Papers of the Fourth Earl of Minto, 1898–1904 edited by Paul Stevens and John T. Saywell. Toronto: The Champlain Society, 1981. Vol. I. Pp. lxxix + 467.

Robert Thorne Coryndon: Proconsular Imperialism in Southern and Eastern Africa, 1897–1925 by Christopher P. Youe. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 1986. Pp. xiv + 241; maps, tables, and illus. $29.95.

The Ambiguities of Dependence in South Africa: Class, Nationalism, and the State in Twentieth‐Century Natal by Shula Marks. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986. Pp. ix + 171; illus. £13.75.

Oil Diplomacy in the Twentieth Century by Fiona Venn. London: Macmillan, 1986. Pp.xii + 228. £7.95 (paperback); £25.00 (hardback).

The Third Reich and the Palestine Question by F.R. Nicosia. London: I.B. Tauris, 1986. Pp.343. £24.50.

Old Sinister: A Memoir of Sir Arthur Richards, GCMG by Richard Peel. Privately printed, n.d. Pp. 196, £8.

Yanks Down Under 1941–45: The American Impact on Australia by E. Daniel Potts and Annette Potts. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1985. Pp. xxiii + 455, illus. £29.50.

Anthony Eden: A Biography by David Carlton. London: Allen &; Unwin Paperbacks, 1986. Pp.528: illus. £8.95.

Anthony Eden by Robert Rhodes James. London: Weidenfeld &; Nicolson, 1986. Pp. xiv + 665; map and illus. £16.95.

The English‐Speaking Alliance‐ Britain, the United States, the Dominions and the Cold War 1945–1951 by Ritchie Ovendale. London: George Allen &; Unwin, 1985. Pp. 308; bibliography and index. £30.

Black Africa 1945–1980: Economic Decolonisation and Arrested Development by D.K. Fieldhouse. London: Allen &; Unwin Ltd., 1986. Pp.xix + 260. £22.50 (hardback), £9.95 (paperback).     

State Political Culture and Welfare Reform

I investigate the link between the general features of state governments and their ability to reform welfare. The best indicator of governments' characteristics is Elazar's political cultures. I define what successful welfare reform means, drawing on implementation research and experience. My criteria stress process, the avoidance of political and administrative problems. I then test the link between the Elazar cultures and successful reform using recent case studies of state implementation of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Elazar's "moralistic" states perform best, and the association holds, even controlling for other influences. Results depend, however, on how welfare reform is defined.     

The Political Economy of Exile in the Great Dismal Swamp

The Great Dismal Swamp in North Carolina and Virginia has a history of profound significance to scholars and historians of North American diasporas. Between 1630 and 1865, thousands of maroons, enslaved canal company laborers, and disenfranchised Native Americans lived within this morass and formed communities that were connected through a dynamic swamp-wide political economy. The Great Dismal Swamp Landscape Study has been initiated to explore the archaeological landscapes of these Diasporans. This essay discusses several aspects of the theoretico-analytical research model that has guided this ongoing project. Also, included are brief explications on the methods and results of the first season of archaeological survey in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.     

土地改革是一场伟大的历史性变革——纪念《中华人民共和国土地改革法》颁布50周年

本文对新中国土地改革所实行的农民的土地所有制及其法律依据《中华人民共和国土地改革法》进行再思考 ,并分析这次土地改革成功的原因、经验及历史地位 ,以纪念《中华人民共和国土地改革法》颁布 50周年。     

政治体制改革的动力机制探析

政治体制改革的核心问题依然是解决动力问题,动力机制是政治体制改革的生命之所在。经济体制改革的深入推进及经济的高速发展是政治体制改革的物质推动力;公民社会的发育是政治体制改革的本源推动力;借鉴人类政治文明是政治体制改革的外在推动力;基层民主实践是政治体制改革的直接推动力;迅速普及的互联网是政治体制改革的技术推动力;政治体制改革的制度化是政治体制改革的长效推动力。     

戊戌前後諸政事(上)

本文根據"張之洞檔案"中的若干機密文件,揭開戊戌前後諸政事的內幕:劉坤一查辦張之洞被彈劾案,容閎、李提摩太、劉鶚在戊戌前後的表現,張之洞與李鴻藻的關係,岳州自開通商口岸,張之洞與日本政界聯手驅逐康有爲出日本,獎勵廣東紳士"報效"逃亡西安的清廷以及廢黜"大阿哥"溥儁等事件。這些雖非重大的政事,但對戊戌前後的清朝政治起到了相當重要或非常微妙的作用。本文分上下篇刊出。     

Political Science and U.S. Health Policy in the Era of the Affordable Care Act

Few laws have a profound and lasting impact on an entire political system. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), despite its incremental nature and bipartisan heritage, has been one of those remarkable landmarks. Even a decade after its passage, the political struggle is far from over, as the ACA is still facing near constant threats from the incumbent president, Congress, the courts, statehouses, attorneys general, and governors across the nation. How have political scientists responded to the continued struggle? This article provides an overview of the effects of health reform and the ACA on political science research since 2008. While political scientists have written much about the subject, coverage has been distinctly uneven within the discipline. Indeed, it has almost been entirely confined to scholars of public and health policy. Nonetheless, there have been important contributions across disciplinary fields. This article provides an overview of contributions embedded within the study of federalism, policy feedback effects, and political framing. It concludes by emphasizing the need for more engaged scholarship on health policy issues from across the entire discipline, and by highlighting other areas of study that could benefit from broader attention by political scientists.     

Unfinished Business: Confirming Australia's Constitution as an Act of Political Settlement

This paper sympathises with both conservatives who oppose continual tampering with the Constitution and progressive reformers wishing to improve its democratic character. It suggests a constitutional reconciliation between the two is feasible if both take more account of the position advanced by federal constitutionalists. Such a reconciliation would leave the mainframe of the Constitution intact and establish it more securely as an authoritative framework for political association. Doing so would also resolve much of the normative confusion surrounding the polity, help establish a more coherent philosophy of government in Australia, and subsume the translation to a republic.     

日本政治资金及其管理法制改革

日本自民党是一个特殊的复合政治结构,其对政治资金的需求不仅数量巨大,而且划分为党的正式组织、派阀和党属议员三个方面。在资本主义竞争型代议制民主政治体制下,政治资金的来源有国家供给和政党或政治家自行筹措两种基本模式,但两种模式都无法保证所谓的“公正”。在1994年《政党助成法》通过之前,日本政治资金筹措制度不仅不能保证资本主义民主政治的“公正”,还引发出政治体制的生存、执政党的组织整合以及统治效能方面的问题。日本统治集团对政治资金管理法制进行改革主要是为了维护保守政治统治,提高其效能。