Liberal Party Reforms

1. Explain the ways that participation in political campaigns and elections in the United States changed between 1815 and 1840, and analyze forces and events that led to these changes.

Firstly the House of Lords reform where the voting rights of most hereditary peers was abolished. This makes the UK less undemocratic rather then more democratic. This is due to the fact that the House of Lords as a whole is an unelected chamber and therefore undemocratic, however by removing the voting rights of some

‘One nation’ is an idea that is based upon principles such as paternalism, and it is the name given to describe this particular faction of the conservative party. ‘One nation conservatives’ is the name given to the followers of the ideas presented by Benjamin Disrael, and the belief in changing Britain from ‘two nations’ i.e the rich and the poor, and instead creating one. Benjamin Disraeli adopted one nation conservatism for both ethical and electoral reasons. Before he became leader of the Conservative Party, Disraeli had announced that, as a result of the Reform Act of 1867 the party needed to pursue social reforms if it was to have

This changed in the introduction of secret balloting in 1872 which allowed voters to vote in secret polling booths rather than public stands which gave the voters the anonymity that allows them to vote for who they want to which, in turn, made Britain more democratic than before but obviously bribery and corruption was still in existence. The Corrupt and Illegal Practices Act of 1883 improved this situation more by limiting how much candidates could spend during election time, banning practices such as buying food or drink for voters and candidates had to account for all election expenses therefore flagging up if they were bribing. The law also stated how many carriages could be used to carry voters to the polls! By 1918 Britain was more democratic than it had been but it was still far from being totally democratic as the franchise favoured a MP that would make donations to their local teams, hospitals etc.

Disraeli believed in an organic society held together by duty and responsibility, and was responsible for the Second Reform Act which gave the working class the vote and also improved housing conditions and hygiene. This is often seen as a form of Tory welfarism. One nationism reached its peak in the 1950s and 1960s when conservative governments in the UK promoted social welfare, in stark contrast to later, New Right conservative governments such as the Thatcher Government (1979-90). In the 50s one-nation conservatism was seen as a ‘middle way’ between ‘laissez-faire’ liberalism and socialist state planning. Therefore, paternalistic conservatism could be seen as the way of moderation.

Many critics of history have long argued that Populists were far less successful than Progressives in reaching their objectives, which is supported by the difference in beliefs of the two groups and the results of their distinct reform attempts. Despite not being as effective as the Progressives, the Populists did succeed in getting several of their ideas acknowledged by the government. Unfortunately for the political group, a majority of the Populist demands remained unrecognized or barely enforced. On the other hand, the Progressive movement resulted in several societal and government reforms, as well as a new interest in the wellbeing of the general population. While the Populists and Progressives shared similar objectives, the

The 1906 UK general election was a shock event in British politics when the Liberal party not only beat the Conservative party but gained an unprecedented amount of their seats in Parliament. The Two main reasons for the Conservative loss , the 1902 Education Act and Tariff Reform, were both acts by the Conservatives themselves. Alongside these two reasons, the Liberal party also had a very successful opposition campaign which possibly could have won them the election on its own.

Another problem with the voting system was the lack of a private vote. Employers could influence the way their employees voted by threatening to punish them if they failed to vote for their preffered candidate. This problem was fixed in 1872, when William Gladstone's government passed the Ballot Act which guaranteed a secret system of voting. Although the immediate results of the reform act were not earth shattering, the country had taken, as Lord Derby said, "a leap in the dark." Strikes, union advances, and labor organization were powerful forces for change in the final years of the century. William Gladstone was elected as Prime Minister of England for the second time in 1880 and the most important legislative action that took place during his second ministry was the Reform Act of 1884. The reform act was rejected the first time it was presented to the House of Lords, but accepted the second time because it was accompanied by a redistribution act, which had the following implications. "(i) seventy-nine towns with populations smaller than 15,000 lost their right to elect an MP; (ii) thirty-six with populations between 15,000 and 50,000 lost one of their MPs and became single member constituencies; (iii) towns with populations between 50,000 and 165,000 were given two seats; (iv) larger towns and the country constituencies were divided into single member constituencies" (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PR1885.htm). The actual Reform Act of 1884

Also, voters and politicians now nominated candidates, rather than the political party leaders in Congress. This and other events led to a more democratic society.

The party became so divided that it split into three factions the “Stalwarts”, the “Half Breeds”, and the aforementioned “Mugwumps”. The “Stalwarts” represented the Grant faction of the party who were openly corrupt and supported the spoils system. The “Half Breeds” were not openly corrupt but were still on the payroll of big business. Lastly there were the “Mugwumps” called for the end of the spoils system and big business intervention in politics. After the election of 1876 president Rutherford B. Hayes tried a middle course to try and rebuild the party.

26. Although the power of the national government increased during the early republic, this development often faced serious opposition. Compare the motives and effectiveness of those opposed to the growing power of the national government in TWO of the following.

Another political change was the growth in democracy, specifically in the expansion of

With regards to seats the Reform Act still didn’t push towards democracy however there were still some democratic features. The disfranchising of rotten boroughs was seen as democratic and in addition reducing the representation of boroughs in comparison to counties also leaned towards democracy. In spite of this the seats still didn’t correspond very closely to the population and rural areas still continued to be over representative. Small boroughs still remained and towns with very high population were denied separate parliamentary representation. Even though the reform act did make slight changes towards democracy with regards to seats, I believe it still remained somewhat undemocratic.

victory for liberalism. In a general sense, the conservative goals of this period justified the Liberal reforms enacted by

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.