Examination of major changes in political behaviour in 19c Cornwall, withwider implications for the country as a whole. This detailed case-study offers a penetrating analysis of the changing political culture in Cornwall up to and after the introduction of the 1832 electoral system. It spans a century in which the county's parliamentary over-representation and notorious political corruption was replaced by a politicised electorate for whom issues and principles were usually paramount. Several models of electoral behaviour are tested; in particular, the continuous politicalactivism of Cornwall's farmers stands out. Despite remnants of the unreformed electoral system lingering into the mid-Victorian era, Cornwall developed a powerful Liberal tradition, built upon distinctive patterns of non-conformity; the Conservatives, split by dissension, saw their pre-reform ascendancy disappear. Professor EDWIN JAGGARD lectures in history at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia.

This book explores the relationship between the British Liberal party and the rural working-class voters enfranchised by the Third Reform Act of 1884. In contrast to many works that present urban voters as the primary agents of political change in nineteenth- and twentieth-century England, this study argues that an examination of the dynamics of popular rural politics is essential to a thorough understanding of political developments in the early years of mass enfranchisement. Prior to 1914, capturing a substantial portion of the rural vote was essential to any political party seeking to establish a strong Parliamentary majority; and the Liberal party, coming from a traditionally strong urban base, had to work particularly hard to meet the expectations of the new rural electorate. The book shows that popular political culture in the English countryside was dominated by two important, and sometimes conflicting, traditions: on the one hand, a history of radical social protest, emphasizing attacks on the privileges of landowning elites, and on the other, a widespread concern for the harmony of the local community, coupled with a suspicion of unnecessary divisiveness. The attempt to appeal simultaneously to both of these facets of rural political culture helps to explain not only why the Liberals continued to launch rhetorical attacks on the landed aristocracy and to promote schemes of land reform long after one might have expected them to have switched to a more 'modern' emphasis on class politics, but also why the 'New Liberal' emphasis on the politics of community carried such broad electoral appeal at the beginning of the twentieth century. The book suggests, finally, that in focusing primarily on urban democratization, historians of this period may have exaggerated the role of class allegiances in shaping popular political opinion and underestimated the continuities between 'Old' and 'New' Liberalism.

This, the third volume to appear in the New Oxford History of England, covers the period from the repeal of the Corn Laws to the dramatic failure of Gladstone's first Home Rule Bill. In his magisterial study of the mid-Victorian generation, Theodore Hoppen identifies three defining themes. The first he calls `established industrialism' - the growing acceptance that factory life and manufacturing had come to stay. It was during these four decades that the balance of employment shifted irrevocably. For the first time in history, more people were employed in industry than worked on the land. The second concerns the `multiple national identities' of the constituent parts of the United Kingdom. Dr Hoppen's study of the histories of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Empire reveals the existence of a variety of particular and overlapping national traditions flourishing alongside the increasingly influential structure of the unitary state. The third defining theme is that of `interlocking spheres' which the author uses to illuminate the formation of public culture in the period. This, he argues, was generated not by a series of influences operating independently from each other, but by a variety of intermeshed political, economic, scientific, literary and artistic developments. This original and authoritative book will define these pivotal forty years in British history for the next generation.

In this volume thirteen American and European scholars show how a variety of mathematical tools may be used to attack major questions in the history of parliamentary behavior. Their essays treat key topics related to the varied but comparable circumstances of seven countries. These topics include: recruitment and career patterns; actions and decisions of legislators as revealed by their roll call votes; and hypotheses that might help explain legislative behavior. Historians have long been interested in the study of parliaments, but the recent application of quantitative techniques has made possible the effective use of data too voluminous to be comprehended by traditional methods. These techniques have also permitted a more precise and searching examination of certain controversial questions. These essays provide a new measure of and challenge to long accepted views regarding the operation of parliaments. Contributors: William O. Aydelotte, Aage R. Clausen, Gudmund Hernes, Sören Holmberg, Geoffrey Hosking, Anthony King, Donald R. Matthews, Mogens N. Pedersen, Douglas Price, Antoine Prost, Christian Rosenzveig, Peter H. Smith, and James A. Stimson. Originally published in 1977. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

A language of party?; 6.

Undergraduate and sixth-form students will undoubtedly benefit from his lucid and critical commentary.' - Martin Pugh, History.