Parliamentary Leadership Research Articles

Neo-Mercantilism and The Wealth of Nations: British Commercial Policy after the American Revolution

Few works of economic thought have such a close association with the intellectual and economic history of their period as Adam Smith's An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. Three recent careful assessments of the ‘influence’ of Smith's work, however, have found little direct evidence for its positive significance for economic policy in the 1780s and 1790s. Parliamentary debate seldom referred to the Wealth of nations, and then usually negatively unless by Smith's friends, or ‘radicals and Foxite whigs’. John Locke, David Hume, Charles Davenant, Sir Josiah Child, William Petty, Josiah Tucker and Arthur Young were all cited more frequently. A wide range of parliamentary leaders read Smith carefully, and several ministers knew him well and sought his advice, but with the exception of Shelburne they appear to have applied Smith's thought eclectically. Salim Rashid has noted that in 1776 there were already influential economic authorities, notably Arthur Young and Josiah Tucker, who advocated freer markets. Conversely, for over a decade after the publication of the Wealth of nations, articles on economic matters in the major periodical reviews made scanty reference to Smith's work, while the protectionist views of Sir James Steuart, whom Smith had ignored, were often authoritative. Smith's views became respectable among the political after negotiation of the Anglo-French commercial treaty of 1786, but it was this liberal economic policy which gave the wealth of nations currency, not the reverse.

Mikhail Gorbachev on the Environment

The threat of thermonuclear war the need to industrialize after the 1917 revolutionthe great size of the USSR and its rich resource base all were reasons for the Soviet government to ignore the environment. Even when environmental problems occurred on a large scale the government was slow to react. Economic restructuring (perestroika) led also to a restructuring of the governments view on ecology. The Congress of Peoples Deputies included in its guidelines of domestic and foreign policy a fundamental way of thinking about nature which Mikhail Gorbachev called ecologization of politics. The Supreme Soviet developed emergency measures to improve the environment. Since many areas of the USSR remain relatively unaffected by humans Gorbachev proposed to expand the protected areas by almost 3 times by 2000. These areas could serve as natural laboratories. In June 1990 at the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival Gorbachev announced that the USSR backs conservation plans and actions of the UN. It favors an international legal mechanism to protect unique natural zones such as the Antarctic. It advocates the creation of an international mechanism for technological cooperation in preserving the environment. The USSR believes the world community must establish a mechanism to monitor various ecological systems. It agrees with its European neighbors that individuals and groups of people should participate in formulating ecological policies. Finally the USSR stresses the need to limit military activity such as ban all thermonuclear tests and destruction of chemical weapons to prevent war and to protect the environment.

Elite Structure and Regime (Dis)continuity in Germany 1867-1933: The Case of Parliamentary Leadership Groups

Elite Structure and Regime (Dis)continuity in Germany 1867-1933: The Case of Parliamentary Leadership Groups

Elite Structure and Regime (Dis)continuity in Germany 1867-1933: The Case of Parliamentary Leadership Groups

Elite Structure and Regime (Dis)continuity in Germany 1867-1933: The Case of Parliamentary Leadership Groups

Federalism and Party Democracy in West Germany

According to Gerhard Lehmbruch, there is a growing inconsistency in West Germany between the principles of a federal polity and party democracy, primarily because the former relies on bargaining, and the latter relies on majority rule as a mechanism of conflict regulation. However, comparative analyses have shown that federalism and party competition are not incompatible. Generally, federal structures are neither detrimental nor conducive to the recruitment function of parties. Competence and experience as a parliamentary leader or as a specialist is the most essential precondition for advancement to national executive positions. The integrative capacities of political parties may even be strengthened by the federal division of power. Only in the area of the formulation and implementation of public policy may an inconsistency between the federal system and party democracy arise because the strain on consensus-building inherent in German cooperative federalism may, under specific conditions, prevent the national majority party from converting its programs into public policy.

Labour People: Leaders and Lieutenants, Hardie to Kinnock

The British labour movement has always venerated the collective ideal: solidarity, mass endeavour, the common good. Yet, it also draws constant inspiration from the ideas and achievements of single individuals. From Hardie to Bevan, from Benn to Kinnock and Scargill, Labour's progress or decline has always been inextricably bound with its major personalities and the concept of leadership. Labour People opens up a gallery of vivid portraits, covering nine decade of Labour's stormy history. Drawing on extensive original material, and in some cases, personal acquaintance, it presents the parliamentary leaders, trade union officials, intellectuals, machine apparatchiks, prophets, planners, and pioneers of four main chronological periods. Noted labour historian Kenneth Morgan begins his survey of Labour's greats with the founding fathers who shaped the turn-of-the-century labour policies, and moves on to the young economic planners of the 1940s and the post World War II revisionists, ending with current profiles of Britain's formidable mining leaders. Setting these portraits in a historical and comparative framework, this book provides a panoramic vista of the history, ideas, strengths, and limitations of the British Labour movement in the 20th century.

From “Rabble” to “Chopsticks”: The Radicalism of William Cobbett

William Cobbett is a problem figure in English history. Among his several stage credits are his performances as the soldier's friend, the champion of the rural laborers and the parliamentary leader of the common people. During the 1810s and 1820s he took his celebrated rural rides for the purpose of discovering first-hand the wants and needs of the country laborers. He voiced their “cottage charter” in thePolitical Register, he composed hundreds of tracts disseminating their reform program, and in 1830 he led them in the Captain Swing disturbances—the laborers' militant campaign for improved wages, full employment, and the return to the cottage of bacon, beer, and wheaten bread.Cobbett's sympathies for the farm workers have long been a subject of observation among historians and literary critics. Matthew Arnold suggested that Cobbett's politics were regulated by the condition of country workers, while Hugh Egerton described Cobbett as “the one eminent author whom the farm labourers of England can claim as their own.” For Leslie Stephen, Cobbett was “the voice of the English peasant,” for J. B. Morton he was “the peasant articulate,” and for G. K. Chesterton he “spoke for those innumerable who are also inarticulate.” The great biographer of Cobbett, G. D. H. Cole, agreed: Cobbett was a politicized peasant “at one in nature and sentiment with the mass which he aspired to lead.” Unlike the previous commentators, Cole developed his argument at some length, but his primary understanding of Cobbett was as a rustic-minded critic of industrialism and high finance—a valid assessment certainly, but one neglectful of Cobbett's self-professed ignorance of industrial labor and of market economy.

Two steps backwards: Equal opportunity policy under Howard and Hawke

Despite the deliberate attempt by the Labor and Liberal parties to pursue the ‘women's vote’ in the July Federal election, both parties have been retreating from previous commitments to equal employment opportunity (EEO). The Australian Democrats (AD) have been the only party consistently to support EEO objectives and to appear to mirror this commitment in their own practice (three of the seven AD Senators, including the Federal Parliamentary Leader, are now women).

In Their Own Right. The Rise to Power of Joh's Nationals.

PREFACE n This book is about politics in the state of Queensland. Morenparticularly, it is about the National Party of Australian(Queensland). Even more particularly, it is about thentumultuous decade of politics in Queensland between 1973nand 1983. It was during the premiership of Joh Bjelke-nPetersen and the presidency of Sir Robert Sparkes that thenNational Party achieved its aim of governing Queensland innits own right.n n Circumstances brought a troubled Premier Bjelke-Petersennand new president Robert Sparkes together in 1970. Thenpremier's concern was his short-term personal politicalnsurvival; Bob Sparkes' challenge was the long-term survival ofnthe organization he had only recently been elected to lead -nan organization that appeared destined for political oblivion.nYet the developments of their period of leadership changednthe direction of state and federal politics in Australia. Theirnconsiderable political acumen and stature won them widenacclaim and recognition, and the organization they gatherednabout them revolutionized conservative politics in Australia.n n In recent years, many newspaper column centimetres andnseveral books have been written about the exploits of PremiernJoh Bjelke-Petersen. Little, however, has been written aboutnthe contribution and vision of Sir Robert Sparkes and thenimportance of the National Party organization that has backednboth men. This book is an attempt to redress this imbalance. Itnis also an attempt to put into context the historic collapse inn1983 of the National-Liberal coalition in Queensland, and tonaddress the question of what lies in the future for the NationalnParty, both federally and in Queensland. n In the months that have followed the 1983 Queensland statenelection, dramatic changes have taken place. A challenge hasnbeen mounted to the outcome of the poll in the seat ofnMaryborough, which threatens to whittle the Nationals'nnarrow majority. The socialist thrust throughout Australia hasngained renewed momentum under the populist leadership ofnLabor Prime Minister Robert Hawke. The position of thenfederal Liberal Party has been greatly weakened by furthernretirements and the federal parliamentary leader of thenNational Party, Doug Anthony, resigned. A new federalnNational Party leader was elected amidst some of the mostnsevere personal criticism ever inflicted on a federal leader ofnthe party. The Queensland party has failed in its bid for thendeputy leadership of the federal party, and the longstandingnexecutive director of the Queensland organization, MichaelnEvans, resigned to pursue a future parliamentary career.n n This book is not an official complete record of the NationalnParty of Queensland, although it could not have been writtennwithout the close cooperation and encouragement of the StatenManagement Committee of the party, the party's researchnstaff, and Sir Robert Sparkes.n n Thanks are also due to Mrs Barbara Campbell, widow ofnAlan J. Campbell, for access to her husband's Memoirs of thenCountry Party in Queensland, 1920-1974 (unpublished), whichnassisted greatly in the writing of the first chapter of this book.nSpecial thanks also to my wife, Mary, who encouraged me tonwrite the book and who performed the duties of constructivencritic throughout the months of its compilation.n n Many of the photographs in this book were supplied by thenPremier's Department, whose assistance was greatlynappreciated. The owners of other illustrative material havenbeen acknowledged in the respective captions.n

Charles I and the Popish Plot

Hibbard begins by setting court Catholicism in the context of English court alignments on domestic and foreign policy. She then describes public reaction to royal policy and court Catholicism and the use parliamentary leaders made of anti-Catholicism from 1640 to 1642. In this first study to focus on both the perceptions and the reality of popish plotting, Hibbard concludes that behind the exaggerated claims lay genuine anxieties that historians should begin to take seriously.Originally published 1983.A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

The Labour Party: Riding the Two Horses

This article deals with the linkages between the parliamentary elite and the activists in the extraparliamentary organization in democratic ideological parties with bifurcated power structures. It shows how cleavages precipitated by changes in the environment of the parliamentary caucus disrupt its penetrative influence over the mass organization, opening up avenues for ideological dissidents who contend for power with the pragmatists in the parliamentary leadership. A framework for the analysis of issue-oriented factional behavior within a defined organizational setting is applied to the British Labour Party in past and contemporary struggles. The author argues that similar studies of elite/activist linkages and ideological splits may be a catalyst for theory development in the political parties field.

De fractieleider : Knelpunt of knooppunt in het parlementair gebeuren ?

The author describes the recent changes of rules and proceedings in the House of Representatives, later on in the Senate and finally in both the new «cultural Assemblees», concerning the existence, the functioning and the importance of parliamentary groups and their leaders.Assimilated to the status of Vice-presidents of their Assembly, the parliamentary leaders are in charge of many responsabilities and more attention is given to the parliamentary group as such rather than to the individual members. Seating the members in the House, allocating to their «mandated» members speaking time in important debates, replacing members of their group in the specialized committees, preparing with the Speaker the public debates, taking full responsability for the material aid provided to their group and their members (secretarial help, technical assistance in the committee stage and money supply for research) the many tasks of the parliamentary leaders in the organization of parliamentary work are increasing.Their political functions are much more important. Usually the parliamentary leader sits in the top policy making organs of his party, very often he has had governmental experience and, as a floor leader, intervenes in the important debates.Even if essential differences can be observed between political parties (more freedom of action for the liberals and christian-democrats as a parliamentary group, less for the socialists and the communists) the leader in the Parliament plays an important role as the link between political parties and parliament.

On the Conscription Trail: The Second Referendum Seen from beside W. M. Hughes

W. M. Hughes arrived in London as Australian prime minister in March 1916, some weeks after Asquith had introduced conscription. By the time Hughes returned to Australia in July 1916 the Australian troops in France had already been involved in disastrous fighting, and it was clear that voluntary recruiting in Australia could not satisfy the demands being made for reinforcements by the British command and by General W. R. Birdwood, commander of I Australian Corps. The Labor move ment was hopelessly divided on the question of conscription. Hughes, as parliamentary leader of the Australian Labor Party, narrowly achieved agreement from his colleagues to hold a referendum on the question, but was expelled from the party in the course of the campaign. The referendum of 28 October 1916 resulted in a narrow majority against compulsory service, and shortly after Hughes left the A.L.P. and formed a new government. Hughes and his breakaway colleagues combined with the Liberals to form the Nationalist Party. This party was confirmed in office by the elections of May 1917.

Institutional Rules and Legislative Outcomes in the Italian Parliament

The Italian Parliament tends to displace aggregative and controversial legislation and to make special room for legislation of limited import on which coalition partners and the opposition can more easily agree. Standing committees can be empowered by constitutional norm to enact legislation without reporting it to the floor. This easier procedure is used by the parliamentary leadership to process more minute and less controversial legislation, and increases its chances of success. More aggregative and controversial legislation is given low priority in the committee and floor agenda. It therefore tends to die upon dissolution of parliament without ever being debated.

T. J. Ryan: a Political Biography

INTRODUCTIONn Thomas Joseph Ryan was born in 1876 and died in 1921.nDuring his working life he was a teacher, a barrister and anmember of parliament. From 1909 to 1919 he represented thenelectorate of Barcoo in the Queensland Legislative Assemblynand was the member for West Sydney in the House of Representativesnbetween 1919 and 1921. He was the Premier ofnQueensland from 1915 to 1919, being the first Labor premiernto have a majority in the lower house. His teaching career wasnnot spectacular and was merely a means of supporting himselfnuntil he qualified as a barrister. His early ambition centred on ancareer in law, but he also had a liking for politics. He combinedncareers in both fields as had several of his contemporaries.nThough he proved to be an outstanding barrister, his skill herenbecame subordinated to politics and it was in the latter fieldnthat he made his reputation.n Since Ryan left no diary nor any personal papers, thisnpolitical biography necessarily is based on public and archivalnmaterial plus the semi-private records of the Labor party andncertain trade unions. These sources were supplemented by annumber of verbal and written interviews with several survivingncontemporaries. Minutes of cabinet meetings were not kept atnthis time; ministers kept their own notes of decisions affectingntheir departments.n Ryan's period as premier coincided with the hectic days ofnWorld War I and his career is intertwined with the nationalnpolitics of the war. He was a central figure in the two conscriptionnreferenda; in guaranteeing the allied troops a continuednsupply of meat during the war; in establishing the State Government Insurance Office; in the first attempt to abolish the LegislativenCouncil in Queensland; and in breaking the monopolisticnhold of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR) over thenwhole sugar industry. In addition he initiated a wider range ofnState enterprises than any other government had attempted; henestablished, through the Privy Council, the constitutional powernof state parliaments to legislative authority within their ownnboundaries and played a vital role in the Labor party's denyingnits own political theory of rank and file control when he wasnasked to assume the leadership of the Federal Labor party asnthe only man capable of matching the Prime Minister WilliamnMorris Hughes. This biography is a study of Ryan's reaction toneach of these and of the contemporary influence of hisndecisions throughout Australia, with more particular attentionnbeing given to Queensland.n I have chosen to deal with these issues together, rather thannthematically, because that, unavoidably, was how Ryan had tonconfront them. The question of the sugar industry well illustratesnthis point. Between 1910 and 1920, sugar was thenprimary industry having the greatest political importance innQueensland. It would have been quite impossible to analysenadequately his attempts to stabilize the industry, give growersnand workers a fair share of the profits and curb the power ofnthe CSR, without showing how this impinged on his fight withnthe Legislative Council, and during 1917, on the growing chasmnbetween Ryan, then the sole Labor premier, and Hughes thenformer national Labor leader. In fact, it will be shown throughoutnthe period that the problems of sugar, meat, the LegislativenCouncil and conscription influenced each other and all othernpolitical events in Queensland, particularly during the war. Innassessing Ryan's capabilities as a political leader, it is necessarynto see his handling the whole range of political issues as theynemerged, rather than to consider each one separately. It hasnbeen necessary to deviate from this course when an event hasnbeen of such importance that it transcended all else. Such wasnthe 1917 conscription referendum when the conflict betweennRyan and Hughes became the central point of the wholencampaign and when the nation was engaged in its most bitternpolitical debate.n In writing this political biography, I have concentrated onnRyan the politician rather than on Ryan the barrister, or Ryannthe man. The numerous court cases that Ryan fought arenconsidered in the light of their political ramifications rathernthan for their legal importance. Ryan was married, he had twonchildren and eventually was to buy Sir Thomas McIlwraith'snlarge house at Auchenflower. But since he did not associate hisnhome life very much with his political life, the former is onlynmarginally mentioned. On the other hand, his wife was importantnas an unofficial private secretary who looked after thensending of condolence or congratulatory messages to constituentsnor important figures in the State or Commonwealth.n Finally this is a study of the political behaviour of a Labornpremier and of the internal workings of the Labor party prior ton1921. Ryan's career is of particular significance in this regard.nHaving first attempted to enter politics as a supporter of thenLiberal Prime Minister Alfred Deakin, he switched his allegiancento the Labor party and despite his bourgeois, non-working classnbackground became the parliamentary leader of that party afternonly one term in the Legislative Assembly. Within a further sixnyears, his continued progress through the party culminated in anState and national reputation among Labor party and tradenunion leaders, equalled by few other Labor politicians.nn

The Origins of the Politics of the Parliamentary Middle Group, 1625–1629

Only twice in the early seventeenth century, in 1624 and 1640, was the ‘political nation’ in England united. On both occasions, the determination of policy was surrendered by an unwilling king and the assistance of Parliamentary leaders sought. Both led to war and a sharpening of domestic political conflict. But such similarities were no more than superficial. The war which was envisaged in 1624 was foreign and external; the one which ensued in 1642 was civil and internal. In 1624, the co-operation of the Parliamentary leaders was freely solicited; in 1640, there was no alternative. The initiative which lay with Prince Charles and the Duke of Buckingham at the earlier date was in the hands of the Earl of Bedford, Pym and St John in November 1640. One was a prelude to the period of ‘Personal Government’, the other, ultimately, to that of the Commonwealth and Protectorate.

The ‘Royal Independents’ in the English Civil War

Few historians of the Long Parliament would regard the form of Church government as the first concern of the parliamentary leaders in their negotiations with the king. Contemporary historians considered that the early struggle was not about religion. The royalist Clarendon, the parliamentarian Thomas May, even Richard Baxter, a deeply religious Puritan, were unanimous. To the aristocracy and gentry, it was essentially a conflict over political power and public safety. Religious fervour would inspire the New Model Army, rouse the London citizens, and stimulate the printing presses. But how many members of Parliament or of the gentry in 1640 supported fundamental religious change? Sir Edward Dering told the Commons on 20 November 1641 that he had heard no one there declare themselves for either Presbyterianism or Independency. When Baxter described the composition of the Rump Parliament, he did not see it as the culmination or fulfilment of a religious movement, the expression of Independency.

British M.P.S and their Local Parties: The Suez Cases

Most students of British parties have accepted the view that the mass organizations are decidedly subordinate to parliamentary leadership. Mainly this has meant rejection of the idea that policy is imposed by a party conference, or its delegated executive, in the Labour party as in the Conservative party. But it may also lead one to ignore or depreciate the role of the constituency units which compose the national organizations. That it is a mistake to do so is now suggested by the activities of local party associations during the Suez crisis of 1956–57. Research material derived from this experience provides the bases for altering the common model of the constituency party as a unit in the mass service organizations sustaining the parliamentary leadership. True enough, the association of dues-paying partisans is primarily service rather than policymaking. However, the Suez experience indicates that this service includes a partly selfgenerating function in relation to the maintenance of parliamentary party cohesion, going beyond the well-known earlier instances of local Labour units simply following national orders to drop candidates who were suspected Communists.

The British Constitution and the Structure of the Labour Party

The British Labour Party defies the classifications which students of the structure of political parties have developed. By its historical origin and its formal organization it would seem to be a mass party in the sense that Duverger and others have used that term. But it has also exhibited, notably since 1945, the characteristics of a traditional parliamentary party, denying its mass membership power and influence and allowing its parliamentary leaders the exercise of full authority. Yet in the nineteen-thirties there was evidence that the Labour Party was developing all the characteristics of a mass party, doctrinaire in its program, unreconciled to parliamentary institutions, and anxious to subordinate its parliamentary leadership to the extra-parliamentary organization. It is the defeat of this tendency and the assertion of parliamentarism in the period since World War II which makes this a decisive epoch in the development of the Labour Party, the study of which offers an explanation of the paradox of the party's structure.

British Politics Preceding the American Revolution

TN i688 the legitimate Stuart monarch of England was forced to 1 abdicate his throne. It is only too common to say that this fact has colored all succeeding English history. That fact cannot, however, be overemphasized, especially in relation to eighteenth-century English politics. The change of monarchs was not the important event. The domination of parliament over the king was not apparent to immediately succeeding decades, for this became clear only over the long period of time.' The really pressing problem for the next three generations was how to establish an executive powerful enough to administer the laws of parliament, but not strong enough to endanger the liberties of Englishmen and the rights of parliament. In other words, parliament recognized that some executive power was necessary, even vital, at the very time the parliamentary leaders were reducing the king's position. It was this dilemma which formed the critical problem for all eighteenth-century politicians. How could the partially decapitated government be made to function smoothly?