Statements Of Parties Research Articles

The media and intra‐party democracy: ‘New’ labour and the clause four debate in Britain

This study considers the role and increasing influence of the media in internal Labour Party affairs. Consideration is given to the activities of three ‘auxiliary’ institutions that became central actors within party debates during the leadership of Neil Kinnock. These are the external agenda‐setting print media popular amongst party members; the opinion research based on questioning of the electorate or, more specifically, those seen as potential Labour supporters; and, managing both the media and research, the burgeoning cadre of specialist advisers and aides working for the leader. The latter part of the study examines the defining moment of Tony Blair's three‐year period as Labour leader in opposition, that is, his successful attempt to re‐write the party's statements of aims and values including the revered Clause Four. It will be shown how Blair used the reformed party structures bequeathed him by predecessor Kinnock to manage discussion and deliver a victory not certain at the outset of the debate. In winning the argument, the leadership demonstrated how its powerful position derives not just from its place in the party hierarchy but also from its ability to use the media to structure and control debate.

Offer, Acceptance, and Efficient Reliance

In this article, Professor Craswell explores efficient reliance as an implicit economic rationale underlying courts' decisions in contract formation cases. Contracting parties often fail to express their intentions clearly and courts must later decide what the parties would have wanted ex ante. When negotiations fail, one party (S) may deny ever making a commitment, while the other party (B) may claim to have relied on the first party's statements or conduct. Professor Craswell observes that courts often find a binding commitment by S when reliance by B would have been efficient. After explaining when reliance is efficient, and why the nonrelying party might prefer it, Professor Craswell shows that courts appear to apply an efficient reliance rationale under a variety of common law doctrines. But because the question of whether B's reliance was efficient is highly fact specific, Professor Craswell concludes that bright line rules would not, as a general matter, guarantee a more efficient result.

Social Classes and Social Credit in Alberta.

For years scholars have maintained that Social Credit was a protest on the part of small-scale farmers, who fought against their disadvantaged position in advanced capitalism by rejecting central Canada's control of the prairie region. The protest is usually described as conservative and its supporters portrayed as small agrarian capitalists who combined their opposition to regional exploitation with a firm commitment to capitalism. Based on a review of census materials on occupations, election results, and the party's statements and appeals, Bell reveals that this traditional interpretation is misguided on several counts. He provides a greatly revised picture of the movement's popular class base and its goals and motives, and shows that it was far more radical than commonly believed. The theory of social movements Bell draws from this analysis is applicable not only to Social Credit but to social movements in general. Social Classes and Social Credit in Alberta will be of particular interest to sociologists, political scientists, and historians concerned with Canadian social movements and elections and the political history of the Great Depression.

Is the shining path the “New Khmer rouge”?

This article assesses the claim that Peru's Shining Path insurgency is the “new Khmer Rouge,” a reincarnation of the brutal communist movement responsible for the death of more than one million Cambodians during the 1975–1979 “Democratic Kampuchea” era. Although Shining Path is unlikely to seize power in Peru the analogy is still worth evaluating, given its prominence in public debates over the nature of the insurgency. On the basis of Foreign Broadcast Information Service reports, party statements, and other primary and secondary sources, two major characteristics of these organizations are compared: ideology and prerevolution behavior in their respective “liberated zones.” While acknowledging that the Shining Path and the Khmer Rouge share a number of important features, the article concludes that a Shining Path regime would be less extreme than Democratic Kampuchea, and that it is an overstatement to call the insurgency the new Khmer Rouge.

The Revival of the “Hundred Flowers” Campaign: 1961

For the past year (especially since last March), the Chinese Communist leadership has attempted to revive the “Hundred Flowers” campaign which, Party statements notwithstanding, ended in June of 1957. Yet this revival, and the “blooming and contending” which has issued from it, is basically different from the fierce, unabashed criticism heard briefly four years ago. In 1961, the Party is seeking what it had expected in 1957: academic contention and the gratitude of non-Party intellectuals for a small, measured relaxation—not political criticism. Party leaders have long been aware of the need to secure the co-operation of China's disenchanted intellectuals if industrialisation is to go forward at a rapid pace. However, current overtures are more studied and conservative than was the case in 1957 and, as such, reflect a more realistic Party assessment of its popular support. The differences between the 1957 “Hundred Flowers” and the revival are further shown by: 1. Party emphasis on ground-rules for the present campaign; 2. The strict separation of academic discussion from political discussion and ideological contention; 3. The response of the intellectuals.