City–suburban electoral polarization in Great Britain, 1950–2001

The degree to which residents of British inner cities and suburbs have diverged in their voting behaviour over the post-war period is analysed in this article. Examining aggregate election results by constituency, it is demonstrated that residents of inner cities and suburbs are indeed polarizing in their electoral choices. OLS regression analysis is conducted using constituency-level data to determine the relevance of intra-urban differences for understanding geographic variation in the vote in relation to those for region, size of conurbation and urban–rural distinctions. Results show that urban place of residence is particularly important for understanding the shifting geography of Conservative support. The implications of this research for electoral change in Britain are discussed.     

British Lobbying in Newspaper and Parliamentary Discourse, 1800–1950

Lobbying is a significant component of the modern politics industry in Britain, but we know relatively little about its historical origins and evolution. This article draws on parliamentary debates and three databases which together account for 51 newspaper titles, in order to explore how lobbying was discussed in parliament and the media between 1800 and 1950, and to gauge the growing professionalisation of lobbying. Perceptions of lobbying became somewhat less negative over the period; there are relatively few reports or allegations of corruption associated with lobbying; and lobbying by the railway industry seems to have been less substantial, while public sector lobbying was more significant, than is commonly supposed. Direct advocacy with policymakers is overwhelmingly the dominant tactic used by lobbyists of the period, with few reports of coalitions or grass‐roots campaigns. Particular concerns were expressed about the influence of lobbying around private bills. While lobbying back‐bench MPs and parliamentary committees (rather than ministers and civil servants) accounted for over 80% of the activity revealed across the whole period, there are signs by the middle of the 20th century that the focus of lobbyists is beginning to turn away from Westminster and towards Whitehall. The article paints a detailed view of the scale, scope, and significance of lobbying as it was developing into a national and systematic industry.     

Myxomatosis in 1950s Britain

In 1953 myxomatosis, a viral disease of rabbits, broke out inBritain for the first time. It rapidly killed tens of millionsof the animals from Kent to the Shetlands. Many farmers andforesters welcomed a disease that virtually eliminated a long-standingand serious agricultural pest. Others were horrified by thesight of thousands of dead and dying animals. With meat stillrationed, consumers rued the loss of a cheap and nutritiousfoodstuff. Rough shooters deplored the loss of prey and hattersand furriers the unavailability of the fur on which their businessesdepended. Rabbits also had champions within the ‘establishment’;these included Winston Churchill who was personally influentialin making deliberate transmission of the disease a criminaloffence. The arrival in Britain of myxomatosis presented theauthorities with difficult questions: should they try to containit, spread it or do nothing; should they take advantage of rabbitdepopulation and try to exterminate such a destructive animal?In the event the outbreak was allowed to run its course andrabbit extermination became government policy. This articleconsiders who or what was responsible for the disease reachingthe UK and how it then spread throughout the country. It examinesthe responses of government, other institutions and membersof the public. Finally, it explores the impact of rabbit de-populationon agriculture, the natural environment and public opinion.     

The Chief Rabbinate and Israel's Independence Day Religio‐National Rituals During the 1950s†

This article investigates the place of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate in the formation of Israel's national symbolic language during the country's first Independence Days. My main argument is that, like other state churches, the Rabbinate act as an important agent of memory that imparts collective myths and authenticate them. However, the Rabbinate was not willing to fully integrate the new national stance into the traditional ritual language and was therefore criticised accordingly. This criticism, and the alternative rituals it gave rise to, shows that certain circles of Israeli society were willing to go much further with the integration of national components into the traditional Jewish world. In addition, it demonstrates the necessity of the public's “approval” of the ritual, and therefore reveals the limits of memory agents. The first section of the article presents the background for the religious observance of the national holiday, the second section illustrates the nature of the first Independence Day synagogue services, the third section describes the criticism they had provoked, and the fourth section analyses the alternative rituals held on Mount Zion and the radical religious‐national integration they created. Finally, the conclusion seeks to place this case within the wider context of nation‐building and its religious aspects.     

The Search for National Identity and Japanese Industrial Policy, 1950–1969

Abstract. Economic nationalism reflected in Japanese industrial policy experienced two distinctive stages during 1950–69. It was fragmented in the 1950s as political actors held competing perceptions of national interest and consequently asserted contesting strategies for industrial policy. The tensions between the conservative and the progressive eventually led to a clash in 1960 on the issue of the renewal of the Japan–US security treaty. Economic nationalism began to unify the country in the 1960s as political actors were able to build a consensus on national interest based on economic growth and united around a grand strategy of high growth and liberalisation of trade. During this transition, the perceived external threat to the nation was a major force in generating the momentum for economic nationalism in policy-making, while a fair distribution of economic welfare among social classes through industrial policy was indispensable for economic nationalism to obtain public support.     

Suggestive Experten: Zur Etablierung der US‐amerikanischen Medienforschung in den 1930–1950er Jahren

Suggestive experts: The rise of American communication studies (1930s to 1950s). – The history of social engineering and its rise in the first half of the twentieth century is a well developed field today. This article attempts to add the history of communications research to this field of historical study. The focus lies on the experts for mass communication and their difficulties to combine scientific methodology with the promise to explore how human behaviour can be influenced by the mass media.     

PROFITS, CRISES AND INDUSTRIAL CHANGE 2: THE EXPERIENCE OF CANADA 1950—1981

The paper measures the rate of profit and its components in Canadian manufacturing for 1950 - 1981. The rate of profit has been reduced by rises in the real wage and the technical composition of capital, partially offset by a devaluation in the means of production and a reduction in turnover times. The value of labour power and therefore the rate of exploitation have not changed. The rate of profit has consistently fallen throughout the period. These results are consistent with a theory that the falling rate of profit is endogenous to capitalism.     

Qamdo Before and After Liberation in 1950

wasafitthrankingmonkofficialwiththelocalgovernmentofFbetunderQamdoChiefLhaluCewangDorjein1947.in1950,1followedNgapoiNgawanqJigmei,whenhereplacedLhalu.InJanuary1950,theCPCCentralCommitteeheadedbyChairmanMaoZedongorderedthePLAtoenterTibettoudriveoutimperialistforcesandcon-solidatethedefense[oftheregion]."Thebroadmassesofmonkswereelat-edatthenews,butasmaIlnumberofpeopleintheupperechelonoftherul-ingcIassinnbet,headedbyPrinceRegentDagzha,opposedtheCentralGovernmentmove.TheypIottedfor'1h…