While recognising the difficulties in making rigorous longitudinal comparisons, this paper proposes four benchmarks by which we may relate and assess the accomplishments of various radical reforming governments. These benchmarks are then applied to the domestic policy achievements of five such governments ranging chronologically from the Whigs of the 1830s to the Thatcher era. The purpose is not so much to determine which among them was the most successful, nor to deny the claims of other possible candidates - rather to operationalise and 'test-run' the benchmarks themselves. In this way it is possible to give focus and more careful definition to the implicit and invariably hazy assumptions upon which assessments have often been made.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aikin, K.W.W. (1972) The Last Years of Liberal England, 1900-1914 (London; Collins).
2.
Barry, B. (1989) 'The Continuing Relevance of Socialism', in Skidelsky, R (ed), Thatcherism (Oxford, Blackwell) pp. 143-158.
3.
Blake, R. (1969) Disraeli (London: Methuen)
4.
Briggs, A. (1964) 'The Political Scene', in Nowell-Smith, S (Ed) Edwardian England 1901-1914 (London: Oxford University Press) pp.45-101.
5.
Browning, P. (1986) The Treasury and Economic Policy, 1964-1985 (London: Longman).
6.
Coates, D. (1975) The Labour Party and the Struggle for Socialism (London; Cambridge University Press ).
7.
Dahrendorf, R. (1989) 'Changing Social Values Under Mrs Thatcher', in Skidelsky, R (Ed) Thatcherism (Oxford: Balckwell) pp. 191-201.
8.
Department of Education and Science (1987) Education Reform: The Government's Proposals for Schools ( Middlesex: DES).
9.
Department of Health (1989) Working for Patients - The Health Service, Caring for the 1990s, Cm555 (London: HMSO).
10.
Department of Health and Social Security ( 1985) Reform of Social Security- vol.1, Cmnd 9517 (LOndon; HMSO).
11.
Emy, H.V. (1973) Liberals, Radicals and Social Politics 1892-1914 (London: Cambridge University Press ).
12.
Fraser, D. (1973) The Evolution of the Welfare State ( London: Macmillan).
13.
Fraser, D (Ed) (1982) Municipal Reform and the Industrial City (New York: St. Martin's/Leicester University Press).
14.
Gash, N. (1953) Politics in the Age of Peel: A Study of the Techniques of Parliamentary Representation 1830-1850 (London: Longman).
15.
Ghosh, P.R. (1987) 'Style and Substance in Disraelian Social Reform c. 1860-1880', in Waller, P.J. (Ed) Politics and Social Change in Modern Britain- Essays Presented to A.F. Thompson (Brighton; Harvester ) pp. 59-90.
16.
Grigg, J. (1978) Lloyd George: The People's Champion, 1902-1911 (Berkeley: University of California Press).
17.
Halevy, E. (1961) A History of the English People in the Nineteenth Century- Vol.6: The Rule of Democracy, 1905-1914 (London : Ernest Benn).
18.
Harris, J. (1972) Unemployment and Politics: A Study in English Social Policy, 1886-1914 (Oxford: Clarendon ).
19.
Howell, D. (1976, 1980 edn) British Social Democracy: A Study in Development and Decay (London: Croom Helm).
20.
Jones, G.W. (1985) 'The Attlee Governments' (Review Article), Government and Opposition, Vol. 20, p.126-133.
21.
Jowell, R, Witherspoon, S , Brook, L (eds) (1990 ) British Social Attitudes: Seventh Report -1990-91 Edition (Aldershot: Gower).
22.
Kavanagh, D. and Morris, P. (1989) Consensus Politics: From Attlee to Thatcher (Oxford: Balckwell).
23.
Klein R. (1983, 1989 edn) The Politics of the National Health Service (London: Longman ).
24.
Llewellyn, A. (1972) The Decade of Reform: The 1830s ( Newton Abbot: David and Charles).
25.
Lowe, R. (1986) Adjusting to Democracy: The Role of the Ministry of Labour in British Politics, 1916-1939 (Oxford: Clarendon)
26.
MacDonagh, O. (1958) 'The Nineteenth Century Revolution in Government: A Reappraisal', Historical Journal, Vol. 1, pp. 52-67.
27.
McKibbin, R. (1991) 'Homage to Wilson and Callaghan' (Review Article) , London Review of Books, 24 October.
28.
Marquand, D. (1988) The Unprincipled Society: New Demands and Old Politics (London: Jonathan Cape).
29.
Morgan, K.O. (1984) Labour in Power 1945-51 (Oxford : Oxford University Press).
30.
Morgan, K.O. (1990) The People's Peace: British History, 1945-89 (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
31.
Peele, G. (1988) 'British Conservatism: Ideological Change and Electoral Uncertainty', in Girvin, B (Ed) The Transformation of Contemporary Conservatism ( London : Sage) pp. 13-34
32.
Pike, E.R. (1967) Human Documents of the Victorian Golden Age, 1850-1875 ( London: Allen and Unwin).
33.
Pimlott, B. (1988) 'The Myth of Consensus', in Smith L.M. ((Ed) The Making of Britain: Echoes of Greatness (London: Macmillan ), pp. 129-141
34.
Rowland, P. (1971) The Last Liberal Governments: Unfinished Business, 1911-1914 (London: Barrie and Jenkins ).
35.
Seldon, A. (1987) 'The Churchill Administration, 1951-1955', in Hennessy, P and Seldon, A (Eds) Ruling Performance: British Governments from Attlee to Thatcher (Oxford: Blackwell) pp. 63-97.
36.
Smith, M. (1990) British Politics, Society and the State Since the Late Nineteenth Century (London: Macmillan).
37.
Smith, Paul, (1967) Disraelian Conservatism and Social Reform (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul).
38.
Smith, Peter and Stewart, J. (1985) 'Local Authority Expenditure Targets' Local Government Studies, Vol. 11 (July/August) pp.21-41.
39.
Tomlinson, J. (1981) 'Why Was There Never a "Keynesian Revolution" in Economic Policy?", Economy and Society Vol.10, pp.72-87
40.
Tomlinson, J. (1984) 'A Keynesian Revolution in Economic Policy-Making? ', Economic History Review, Vol.37, pp.258-262.
41.
Webster, C. (1988) The Health Services Since the War: Vol.1 - Problems of Health Care: The NHS Before 1957 (London: HMSO).
42.
Woodward, Sir L (1938, 1962 edn) The Age of Reform 1815-1870 (Oxford: Clarendon).
