‘With All My Oldest and Native Friends’. Joseph Parkes: Warwickshire Solicitor and Electoral Agent in the Age of Reform1

Joseph Parkes, Birmingham solicitor, electoral agent, whig party advisor and secretary to the Parliamentary Municipal Corporation Commission was a modern master of exposing corrupt and fraudulent electioneering and using it as a catalyst for the election of reform and Liberal politicians immediately following the 1832 Reform Act. Warwickshire's own political and legal history was the foundation for Parkes's understanding of how politics worked in Britain and what was wrong with it, and helped forge his vision for an effective reform in parliamentary and local government. This essay examines Joseph Parkes's understanding of national electoral politics, informed by his work in Warwickshire. As a local solicitor, Parkes gained the wisdom of controlling electoral registration, canvassing in a routine and orderly manner and establishing a network of professionals to secure that registrations turned into votes at elections. This experience would culminate in the formation of the Reform Club, a national organisation of whigs, Liberals and radicals, that would, eventually, become the base of the Liberal Party in modern British politics. In short, Joseph Parkes was a man who could not, and did not wish to, escape where he came from, at least in terms of his political education. His Warwickshire experiences and lessons learned, solidified a series of political reform goals that he pragmatically approached as a political advisor, operative and attorney, rather than an elected public servant, and marked the direction of politics for the rest of the century.     

A Pocket Borough? Reformed Politics in Ripon, 1832–67

This article examines the political history of the parliamentary borough of Ripon between the Great Reform Act of 1832 and the Second Reform Act of 1867. It challenges the notion that Ripon remained a ‘pocket borough’ during this era; rather, the Reform Act rendered Ripon's politics much more open, vibrant and participatory than they had been during the ‘unreformed’ era. In demonstrating this, the article calls into question the alleged prevalence of ‘pocket boroughs’ in the reformed era.     

明代贵州开发的心理准备

明代贵州得到前所未有的开发,中央政府既有大同思想,对贵州各民族施行怀柔政策,希望天下归心,形成四海一家的气象,又有明显的等级观念和大汉族主义情结,坚持汉族正统地位,“明华夏之别”、“谨夷汉之防”。外来移民到贵州求生存谋发展而又疏高贵州,生活在贵州却又有着强烈的故乡情怀;依托贵州而又有傲慢之态,与贵州少数民族相依相偎而又心存排斥。贵州土司迫于政治形势接受开发,却又竭力维护既得利益;下层广大民众热心学习中原封建文化和生产技术,但是在基本生存权力得不到保障时被迫反抗。矛盾的心理一方面推动着贵州的开发进程,另一方面又使开发出现停滞或破坏。     

中国国民党早期军队政工制度的演变:1924-1928

在孙中山的“党治”理念及苏联“党军”体制影响下,中国国民党于1924年改组后积极倡行“党在国上”、“党在军上”的政治制度,在黄埔军校教导团时代,即仿效苏联红军实施以党代表为中心、以政治部为具体实践单位、辅以自上而下建立党部的三位一体的政工制度。1925年7月改编为国民革命军后,这一体制在黄埔军校生为主体的军队内基本保留。因国共间的猜忌,国民革命军政工制度随着“清党”运动而产生重大变异,党代表制废除,政治训练部地位下降,军队党部更是形同虚设。试图控制军队的国民党,却被以蒋介石为首的军人反控,形成了事实上的“以军干政”、“军强党弱”现象,成为此后影响民国政治走向的一大因素。     

南京明城墙砖铭文三题

南京明城墙砖应有指定的烧制地点并有相应的组织机构。     

利玛窦与南京

利玛窦为中国带来的欧洲先进数学、天文、地理等知识影响了当时一代中国知识分子,对中西方科学及文化方面的交流有着深远影响,但他的真正目的是传教。     

对"大跃进"时期江苏省农业中学的宏观历史考察

1958年,农业中学最先诞生于江苏省.在"大跃进"运动的影响下,江苏省农业中学的学校数量及在校人数迅速膨胀,成为全国教育"大跃进"的一个重要组成部分和表现形式.在整个"大跃进"时期,江苏省的农业中学始终保持了一个庞大的规模,直到中共中央决定对国民经济实行"调整、巩固、充实、提高",其盲目发展的势头才得以遏制并开始逐步调整.     

“弃物”的另一面：明代宗室忧国述论

从忧国的维度对明代宗室进行考察,“藩禁”下的宗室沉沦者确实很多,“弃物论”有一定的根据。但“弃物”并非宗室全部,“藩禁”的绳索尚未完全窒息其报国之志和忧国之心。不少宗室在朝廷经费匮乏时,捐金捐物,解国家之困;在朝政混乱、国家治理出现严重弊端时,犯颜进谏,或冷静分析,提出治理方案,勇气和才干不输朝中大臣,甚或过之。“弃物”仅是明代宗室多元面相中的一种,忧国是明代宗室多元面相中的另一种面相。     

明代南京城墙砖铭文略论

本主要论述了明代南京城墙砖铭的相关问题。     

评近年来关于知识分子研究的几本史著

学术界近年来关于知识分子问题的研究呈现三大特点：一,“体验中的理解”,利用研究主客体在血脉、情感上的亲密关系,勉力进入先辈生存的精神家园,以理解他们的所思所言所行;二,“建构中的阐释”,力求在某种独特、精致的理论建构中提出假设,表达观点完成叙述;三,“批判中的反思”,通过广义上的学术批判,对古往今来的士之论士、儒之论儒、知识分子之论知识分子的成果进行反思。此外知识分子研究的方法论问题,也值得引起关注。