Liberalism and Liberal Politics in Edwardian England

Liberalism and Liberal Politics in Edwardian England challenges the current orthodoxy that the new liberalism and the progressive alliance with Labour helped to make the Liberal Party more attractive to working-class voters. It examines the relationship between party leaders and constituency activists and argues that the party was more effective when the leadership could mobilize the activists in support of traditional domestic and foreign policies.

Format: Hardback
Length: 261 pages
Publication date: 01 September 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

First published in 1986, Liberalism and Liberal Politics in Edwardian England makes a lively contribution to the historical debate over whether the Liberal Party was already threatened by decline before the First World War. It challenges the current orthodoxy among historians of the Liberal Party, arguing that neither the new liberalism nor the progressive alliance with Labour helped to make it more attractive to working-class voters. Dr. Bernstein takes a wide view of liberal ideology and policies, stressing that the new liberalism cannot be treated in isolation from traditional domestic and external policies. He examines the crucial relationship between party leaders and constituency activists and argues that the party was more effective when the leadership could mobilize the activists in support of traditional domestic and foreign policies such as peace and retrenchment, free trade, education and temperance reform, land reform, the House of Lords and Irish Home Rule. This book will be welcomed by both scholars and students of history and political science.

First published in 1986, Liberalism and Liberal Politics in Edwardian England makes a lively contribution to the historical debate over whether the Liberal Party was already threatened by decline before the First World War. It challenges the current orthodoxy among historians of the Liberal Party, arguing that neither the new liberalism nor the progressive alliance with Labour helped to make it more attractive to working-class voters. Dr. Bernstein takes a wide view of liberal ideology and policies, stressing that the new liberalism cannot be treated in isolation from traditional domestic and external policies. He examines the crucial relationship between party leaders and constituency activists and argues that the party was more effective when the leadership could mobilize the activists in support of traditional domestic and foreign policies such as peace and retrenchment, free trade, education and temperance reform, land reform, the House of Lords and Irish Home Rule. This book will be welcomed by both scholars and students of history and political science.

Dimension: 246 x 174 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032567549