British Welfare Reforms Between 1880-1914 Essays

This essay will examine how the development of the Welfare State and the NHS changed the lives of the people of Britain since its introduction in 1948. To enable me to do so, I will analyse and evaluate the key relevant aspects that happened during that period.

The early to mid 1900s proved to be a whirlwind for politics and society as a whole. While there were a plethora of issues to be dealt with within the Progressive Era, one of the most noteworthy issues to discuss would be that of the working class and the businessmen of the first quarter of the 1900s. The reason why these two portions of society within the Progressive Era are the most relevant to discuss stems from the fact that during the Progressive Era there was a great gap between the upper-class (businessmen) and the lower-class (working class). It was during this time that the country was experiencing great changes to its political platform with several new types of initiatives being taken. The applicability of these reforms and initiatives during this era will be talked about.

It is interesting to note that this sweep, in which the Progressive-Conservatives essentially dominated in all provinces never got the same attention that the Liberals' victories had received in the 1960s and 1970s and in particular Trudeau's stature among the population versus Mulroney's is noteworthy. There was no sort of Mulroneymania among the press and the general population. The question is why did Mulroney fail, despite having greater electoral success in 1984 than Trudeau did in 1968, why was Mulroney unable to capture the same amount of the enthusiasm that Trudeau had in 1968? It may have to do with the fact that many of the key platform planks among the Liberals and the Progressive-Conservatives were similar, in particular when it came to Quebec. I was surprised just how closely Mulroney's Quebec policy, despite being a Progressive-Conservative, mirrored that of Trudeau's. In addition, when it comes to discussing Quebec politics, it is rather surprising to see the Quebec population, which was by-in-large politically left-leaning, vote en masse for a Progressive-Conservative party running on a neoconservative platform, the fact that Mulroney promised

The second great awakening of the 1850s lit a fire underneath the American people because of the spread of European romantic beliefs and religious revival which lead to the creation of many reform movements. At the same time the industrial revolution was occurring which brought issues such as labor conditions and equality to the forefront of reform movements. Due to the industrial revolution, a new national economy was created that brought more and more people into the workplace and created a larger gap between the rich and the poor. These conditions led to many reform movements to spread democratic ideals. Reform movements from 1825-1855 in the US had a limited impact on expanding democratic ideals as somewhere not successful in their time

In America today, just over ten million people are on unemployment insurance, one hundred and ten million people are on welfare, and the total government spending annually is around one hundred and thirty billion dollars (Welfare Statistics). The welfare state is a political system based on the proposition that the government has the individual responsibility to ensure that the minimum standard of living is met for all citizens. Specifically, in the matters of health care, public education, employment, and social security, the welfare state assumes all responsibility. According to John Rawls, “In a just society the liberties of equal citizenship are taken as settled; the rights secured by justice are not subject to political bargaining or to the calculus of social interests. The only thing that permits us to acquiesce in an erroneous theory is the lack of a better one; analogously, an injustice is tolerable only when it is necessary to avoid an even greater injustice“(Rawls). In the 1840s, Otto Von Bismarck, the first Chancellor of Germany, was the father of the modern welfare state. He built the program to win over the support of the working middle class in Germany and ultimately reduce the outflow of immigrants to the U.S., where welfare did not exist (Welfare State). In the United States, not all companies provided workers with benefits, thus the workers appealed to the government, giving rise to the first form of welfare capitalism.

Reformers aimed to take down the party organizations that were thriving on the votes of immigrants. The role that religion played in the reform against the party machines was that religious moralist protected the state and law by abolishing prostitution, liquor sales (Prohibition Era) and gambling which generations of immigrants were scandalized to be doing. This would make many immigrants either break the law, making them face the harsh consequences, or be forbidden of doing something that they have always done and are not allowed to do anymore. The role that civic groups played in the reform against the party machine was selling their message to other members of the middle class (middle class voters) to oppose the party organizations that

From 1945 to 1951, Clement Attlee was prime minister of the Labour Government. He aimed to improve the Social and Economic Conditions. The main aims to improve the social conditions were: to create a fairer society and improve the lives of ordinary people, build on the recommendations of the Beveridge Report, and slay the five giants (Want, Disease, Squalor, Ignorance, and Idleness). The main aims to improve the economic conditions were: fulfilling the Nationalisation programme and reducing unemployment. Labour had to recover from being identified with the failures of the 1930s.

It can be argued that Disraeli was the architect of reform during the late 1860’s and through 1867 reform act, mainly due to the fact that he realised that the conservative party might be seen as non-reforming. To counter this he would expand the franchise and gain potential new voters. However there is also significant evidence that Lord Derby was the main architect of reform, mostly due to the fact that he had been part of the 1832 reform bill and when he returned to power in 1866 he took the lead in presenting the conservative reform bill.

The Great Reform Act passed in 1832 was brought in due to a number of inside and outside pressures. For example, the fall of the Tories and the economic crisis of 1829-30. Britain pre 1832 was known as one of the most unrepresentative countries. English counties elected 82 MPs-only men who owned property worth over 40 shillings a year could elect these MPs (only the ruling classes.)Boroughs or towns elected 394 MPs-most voters were in southern England therefore new industrial cities such as Birmingham & Manchester had no MPs to represent them. There were rotten boroughs and pocket boroughs- corruption and bribery. In some areas there was no competition about who to elect the local

Although the Irish Nationalists support was key to the Liberal Party staying in power it shifted their attention away from other important issues. When the Liberal Party was elected one of their main objectives was Social Reform, however due to problems with Ireland and the Constitutional Crisis they had paid little attention to social reforms. Problems with Ireland and the Constitutional Crisis mad the Liberal Government look weak, they were supposed to be in power however they had very little control about the way

In 1866 the Liberals failed to pass a very limited reform bill which would have enfranchised 400,000 men with no proposal to redistribute parliamentary seats. Although the bill was only limited it would have still secured a change yet the Conservatives opposed it as “it is still theirs, and not ours, and will give them control of the boroughs for half-a-dozen years to come”- Disraeli. Under Gladstone’s Liberal Government there was a period of great electoral reform 1872-85. Firstly, in ‘The Ballot Act 1872’ was passed. The Act made voting secret and therefore reduced bribery and corrupt practices greatly, especially in Ireland, but not completely as there were ways of buying votes e.g. buying a beer.

The title, “great” is reserved for a select few characters and documents in history. Alfred earned his through establishing stable change, peace and improvement. So too the Magna Carta, which brought about greater justice and freedom for the common man and limited royal influence. In the same ways, the reform act of 1832 warranted the title. It was by no means a revolutionary measure, nor “the final solution of a great constitutional question” as Russell had put it, but both symbolically and physically, it spelt change for Britain. This in itself showed its greatness – despite Pitt having attempted reform in the 1780s, and the issue having repeatedly returned to parliament, no reform had been achieved. The fact that finally after so much

Meanwhile Gladstone’s first administration brought with it a high volume of legislation. Due to the rise in industrial societies Gladstone’s administration was faced with the problem of Labour Laws. New Model Union leaders pressed Gladstone’s government to investigate ill-defined positions of unions. The economic problems of the working class came before the cabinet in the form of trade unions. As Bebbington notes, as a result of the 1871 act, working class men were given legal security for their trade unions. (Bebbington, 157) As noted by Matthew, Gladstone did not directly involve himself in the matter of trade unions. (Matthew, 216) Historians have criticised this to be Gladstone’s greatest misjudgement as it left the working class bitterly

The Whitlam Government look for to give power nearby people to right to property back the land to which they were given the right, to let more nearby input into policy-devising, and to put an end to discriminatory practices that limited their and chance. Whitlam’s 1972

The Introduction of Social Reforms by the Liberal Government in 1906-1914 There are multiple reasons why the Liberal government introduced acts of social reform between 1906 and 1914. The obvious reason is that there was a great need for reform(change) but there are also many other factors that played a part in the decision for a reform. This change was really required to help and improve Britain. The reason for this need for change was the poor conditions that all parts of Britain had been left in after the conservatives had been in power.