Chris Williams and Andrew Edwards (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719090714
- eISBN:
- 9781781708798
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719090714.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
‘Die Politik’, Bismarck is reputed to have said, ‘ist die Lehre von Möglichen’. Translated as ‘politics is the art of the possible’, this phrase captures neatly the pragmatism that has been at the ...
More
‘Die Politik’, Bismarck is reputed to have said, ‘ist die Lehre von Möglichen’. Translated as ‘politics is the art of the possible’, this phrase captures neatly the pragmatism that has been at the heart of modern British approaches to the art of government. It is not as though ideology has not, occasionally, loomed large in political debate. Conviction certainly has a respectable pedigree in explaining the attachments, destinies and ultimate fate of some politicians. But success in British politics has come most readily to those who have been flexible, responsive to the shifting mood of the electorate of the day, able to anticipate how social and economic changes may reconstitute the terms of debate, and how through their own words and writings they themselves may help to constitute political meaning. This volume explores some of the major transitions, opportunities and false dawns of modern British political history. Chronologically its span runs from the first general election to be conducted under the terms of the Third Reform Act, with an extensive (if still incomplete) adult male electorate, through to the 1997 referenda in favour of devolved assemblies in Scotland and Wales. This was the period in which British politicians most obviously addressed a mass, British-wide electorate, seeking national approval for policies and programmes to be enacted on a UK-wide basis. In covering this period and this theme the volume as a whole engages with the scholarly legacy of Duncan Tanner.Less
‘Die Politik’, Bismarck is reputed to have said, ‘ist die Lehre von Möglichen’. Translated as ‘politics is the art of the possible’, this phrase captures neatly the pragmatism that has been at the heart of modern British approaches to the art of government. It is not as though ideology has not, occasionally, loomed large in political debate. Conviction certainly has a respectable pedigree in explaining the attachments, destinies and ultimate fate of some politicians. But success in British politics has come most readily to those who have been flexible, responsive to the shifting mood of the electorate of the day, able to anticipate how social and economic changes may reconstitute the terms of debate, and how through their own words and writings they themselves may help to constitute political meaning. This volume explores some of the major transitions, opportunities and false dawns of modern British political history. Chronologically its span runs from the first general election to be conducted under the terms of the Third Reform Act, with an extensive (if still incomplete) adult male electorate, through to the 1997 referenda in favour of devolved assemblies in Scotland and Wales. This was the period in which British politicians most obviously addressed a mass, British-wide electorate, seeking national approval for policies and programmes to be enacted on a UK-wide basis. In covering this period and this theme the volume as a whole engages with the scholarly legacy of Duncan Tanner.
Chris Williams
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719090714
- eISBN:
- 9781781708798
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719090714.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
Duncan Tanner’s work was overwhelmingly focused on the political process and on politics in government. He reached back into the late Victorian era, and forward to the very recent past. He was ...
More
Duncan Tanner’s work was overwhelmingly focused on the political process and on politics in government. He reached back into the late Victorian era, and forward to the very recent past. He was interested in organisations, parties and systems, but also in the people who worked in organisations and parties, and who were affected by (especially electoral) systems. He was a truly British historian, in that he engaged not only with politics at the highest (Westminster and Whitehall) levels, but also with operations on the ground in constituencies across the breadth of mainland Britain. He wanted to find out about MPs, agents, party loyalists, and also about voters in general. And in his approach to the politics of the past Duncan was, essentially, a pragmatist. Rather than condemn historical figures for failing to match up to an often ahistorical standard of ideological purity, he preferred to comprehend the varied pressures under which they operated, and how the decisions they made usually represented a rational (if not always correct) response to the need to reconcile policy ambitions and political realities. This chapter introduces Duncan Tanner’s approach to the politics and governance of modern Britain.Less
Duncan Tanner’s work was overwhelmingly focused on the political process and on politics in government. He reached back into the late Victorian era, and forward to the very recent past. He was interested in organisations, parties and systems, but also in the people who worked in organisations and parties, and who were affected by (especially electoral) systems. He was a truly British historian, in that he engaged not only with politics at the highest (Westminster and Whitehall) levels, but also with operations on the ground in constituencies across the breadth of mainland Britain. He wanted to find out about MPs, agents, party loyalists, and also about voters in general. And in his approach to the politics of the past Duncan was, essentially, a pragmatist. Rather than condemn historical figures for failing to match up to an often ahistorical standard of ideological purity, he preferred to comprehend the varied pressures under which they operated, and how the decisions they made usually represented a rational (if not always correct) response to the need to reconcile policy ambitions and political realities. This chapter introduces Duncan Tanner’s approach to the politics and governance of modern Britain.
