Butskellism And The Labour Party

‘The main reason for conservative dominance in the years 1951 to 1964 was labour disunity’ Assess the validity of this view. (June 2011)

The Populist Party is often referred to as the party of and for the people, and is labeled as such because it was, very candidly, founded by the common people, such as farmers and other laborers. While this party was in power, they had many ambitions and ideas that they sought to spread to others, and aspired to achieve. To understand the topic completely, one requires a general knowledge of the formation of the populist party, the elemental beliefs, goals and ideals, and how the downfall of the party came about, as this will aid in the understanding of the populist party’s want of free coinage of silver and how it would have helped debtors initially, but would have had a comprehensive and unfavorable effect on the American economy

The 19th century was a time where the idea of manifest destiny swept through the American nation. Filling the minds of men and women of the united states, fueling the ideas of moving west for land and prosperity. Americans sought to extend the United States territory from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast, seeing it as their god given right to obtain the land. Nearly seven million Americans embarked on that long and treacherous journey west. On this excursion, the travelers would face rugged terrain, harsh weather conditions, savage Indians, and robbers. Although millions of the travelers made it to their destinations unscathed, not all were so fortunate. One of the most tragic recorded incidences during this western expansion was that of the Donner Party. This group of pioneers, due to false information and bad judgment, became stranded on the Sierra Nevada mountain during the winter of 1846 and were forced to turn to cannibalism to survive.

At the end of the 19th century the United States were in a time called “The Gilded Age”, coined by Mark Twain; a time of mass immigration, Western settlement, and industrialization. Out of these times emerged a political party named the Populist party, later changed to the People’s party. This party stood for the working man, like farmers and factory laborers. Though this party meant well, it did not last long. Surviving until 1896, the Populist party eventually merged with the Democratic party. With this being said, the Populist party was a short lived dream and failure.

In the late 1800’s, America’s farmers faced deep financial insecurity with the fall of agricultural prices that kept them in poverty. Many farmers borrowed money from merchants and banks, and when it came time to repay their loans, they found themselves in the face of losing their land. Their financial troubles mainly attributed to the high freight rates that railroads charged the farmers in order to transport their crops, as well as high interest rates charged by loaners. This financial turmoil lead to the development of the Farmers’ Alliance, which advocated for lower interest rate loans by the Federal Government itself, so that way the farmers didn’t have to depend on independent banks and merchants for financial assistance. The Farmers’ Alliance eventually gained traction in politics and eventually formed itself into the People’s Party, or otherwise known as the Populist Party.

The Liberal Party's membership of Canada is committed to the fundamentals that have developed and sustained the Liberal Party from any other political party; individual freedom, responsibility and human dignity in the framework of a just society; political freedom in the framework of meaningful participation by all interested persons, and the Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides the framework for both a democratic society and for the interaction of members within the party. It is also devoted to equal opportunity for every person, to the enhancement of our unique and diverse cultural community, to the recognition that English and French are the official languages of Canada, and to the preservation of the Canadian identity

This essay will examine the impact of the Conservative party during their period in office between 1951 and 1964. The assessments by historians of these thirteen years vary widely as the Conservative rule left behind a mixed feeling about its achievements. We will therefore be discussing to what extent their period in office can be described as “thirteen years wasted”, based on their performances in the political, economic and social sectors.

The 2016 elections are underway and citizens are wondering: why is there a Democratic and Republican party? What caused them to split up? Political parties are people who make an alliance with other people so, they can work together to win elections and have a say in the government. This is important to know because when you grow up and be able to vote you need to know the difference between democratic and republican.

During the time of the Progressive Era, the Populist Party made tremendous gains in the political and social aspect of American society. Discontent with the economic and political way the country was structured, the Populists sought to reform the government using a system of initiative and referendum. As a form of direct democracy, initiative and referendum was a way to give the power back to the people by utilizing local and state governments. The first part of the reform was the initiative, which is usually a petition signed by a number of voters to bring about a public vote and opinion on a certain amendment, both state and constitutional. This initiative eventually sets the path for the referendum, which is when the proposed law is enacted.

With his announcement on August 2, 2015 Prime Minister Stephen Harper set in motion a 78-day election campaign, one of the longest and quite possibly the most expensive in Canadian history (Maloney, 2015). The structural constraints posed by the first-past-the-post electoral system, and the institutional constraints of the parliamentary system and campaign spending legislation were all potentially beneficial to Harper and the Conservative Party, but his underestimation of strategic voting and the power of social media, combined with his use of polarising debates and the decision of many popular incumbent Tory MP’s not to run, led to his party’s downfall and the creation of a Liberal majority government. This essay delves deeper into the factors behind the Conservative Party’s loss in the October 2015 Canadian election, in an attempt to understand why they were unable to secure a fourth mandate and come out first-past-the-other parties.

This proposed bill has brought up a lot of controversy between many different groups of people. The Labor and Greens do not support the proposed reforms as do many independents and senators. This bill did not get completely passed through, as it was passed by the house of representatives but not the senate.

All these claims that liberals want to disarm citizens really diminishes the conservative's position. It's important to first note that I'm not loyal to any party. I vote for people, not parties. In my opinion, both of the major parties have failed America. They put their battles between the two parties ahead of what is best for the country.

In 1790, the United States had just recently broke free from the British crown and united under the cause of liberty. But in spite of this, Americans saw political rifts brought about by the rise of political parties. The rise of political parties in 1790 was caused by general distrust, disagreements on policies, and constitutional disagreements between the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties, which were led by Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, respectively.

Whether or not there truly was a ‘post war consensus’ in British politics from 1951 to 1964 is a highly debatable topic of which historians can often appear to be in two minds about; on one hand, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson infamously described the period as ‘Thirteen years wasted’, whereas historian Robert Blake (a supporter of the Conservatives’, regards it as a ‘Golden age of growth’. The likes of Kevin Jeffrey’s even argue that consensus had even started before the war. Overall, the central issue was the idea of a mixed economy.

At the end of World War One in November 1918 the Labour Party emerged as a strong political Party. Prior to this it was the Liberal Party that was expected to be the main opposition to the Conservatives, with Labour as a party who used the popularity of the Liberals to become noticed. However, it soon became apparent that the Liberals were a weak and flagging party who were unable to unite as one to make decisions. It is evident that the First World War may have been an important factor in the growth of Labour and the decline of the Liberals.