Marc Brodie
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199270552
- eISBN:
- 9780191710254
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199270552.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This book is about the political views of the ‘classic’ poor of London's East End in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. The residents of this area have been historically characterized as ...
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This book is about the political views of the ‘classic’ poor of London's East End in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. The residents of this area have been historically characterized as abjectly poor, casually employed, slum dwellers with a poverty-induced apathy toward political solutions interspersed with occasional violent displays of support for populist calls for protectionism, imperialism, or anti-alien agitation. These factors, in combination, have been thought to have allowed the Conservative Party to politically dominate the East End in this period. This study demonstrates that many of these images are wrong. Economic conditions in the East End were not as uniformly bleak as often portrayed. The workings of the franchise laws also meant that those who possessed the vote in the East End were generally the most prosperous and regularly employed of their occupational group. Conservative electoral victories in the East End were not the result of poverty. Political attitudes in the East End were determined to a far greater extent by issues concerning the ‘personal’ in a number of senses. The importance given to individual character in the political judgements of the East End working class was greatly increased by a number of specific local factors. These included the prevalence of particular forms of workplace structure, and the generally somewhat shorter length of time on the electoral register of voters in the area. Also important was a continuing attachment to the Church of England amongst a number of the more prosperous working class. In the place of many ‘myths’ about the people of the East End and their politics, this study provides a model that does not seek to explain the politics of the area in full, but suggests the point strongly that we can understand politics, and the formation of political attitudes, in the East End or any other area, only through a detailed examination of very specific localized community and workplace structures. This book challenges the idea that a ‘Conservatism of the slums’ existed in London's East End in the Victorian and Edwardian period. It argues that images of abjectly poor residents who supported Conservative appeals about protectionism, imperialism, and anti-immigration are largely wrong. Instead, it was the support of better-off workers, combined with a general importance in the area of the ‘personal’ in politics emphasized by local social and workplace structures, which delivered the limited successes that the Conservatives did enjoy.Less
This book is about the political views of the ‘classic’ poor of London's East End in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. The residents of this area have been historically characterized as abjectly poor, casually employed, slum dwellers with a poverty-induced apathy toward political solutions interspersed with occasional violent displays of support for populist calls for protectionism, imperialism, or anti-alien agitation. These factors, in combination, have been thought to have allowed the Conservative Party to politically dominate the East End in this period. This study demonstrates that many of these images are wrong. Economic conditions in the East End were not as uniformly bleak as often portrayed. The workings of the franchise laws also meant that those who possessed the vote in the East End were generally the most prosperous and regularly employed of their occupational group. Conservative electoral victories in the East End were not the result of poverty. Political attitudes in the East End were determined to a far greater extent by issues concerning the ‘personal’ in a number of senses. The importance given to individual character in the political judgements of the East End working class was greatly increased by a number of specific local factors. These included the prevalence of particular forms of workplace structure, and the generally somewhat shorter length of time on the electoral register of voters in the area. Also important was a continuing attachment to the Church of England amongst a number of the more prosperous working class. In the place of many ‘myths’ about the people of the East End and their politics, this study provides a model that does not seek to explain the politics of the area in full, but suggests the point strongly that we can understand politics, and the formation of political attitudes, in the East End or any other area, only through a detailed examination of very specific localized community and workplace structures. This book challenges the idea that a ‘Conservatism of the slums’ existed in London's East End in the Victorian and Edwardian period. It argues that images of abjectly poor residents who supported Conservative appeals about protectionism, imperialism, and anti-immigration are largely wrong. Instead, it was the support of better-off workers, combined with a general importance in the area of the ‘personal’ in politics emphasized by local social and workplace structures, which delivered the limited successes that the Conservatives did enjoy.
Pippa Norris, Richard W. Frank, and Ferran Martinez i Coma (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- June 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199368709
- eISBN:
- 9780199368730
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199368709.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Democratization
Many elections fail. The most overt malpractices used by rulers include imprisoning dissidents, harassing adversaries, coercing voters, vote-rigging counts, and finally, if losing, blatantly ...
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Many elections fail. The most overt malpractices used by rulers include imprisoning dissidents, harassing adversaries, coercing voters, vote-rigging counts, and finally, if losing, blatantly disregarding the people's choice. Administrative irregularities are also common, such as inaccurate electoral registers, ballot miscounts, and security defects. Flawed contests have triggered public protests and international criticism. It is time to take stock of these problems. This book addresses three related themes: what standards and evidence determine when elections fail? What strengthens effective, impartial, and independent electoral authorities? And, do failed contests undermine political legitimacy? International experts bring new concepts, theories, and evidence to illuminate these issues, drawing upon a range of cases in established democracies such as Britain and the United States, newer democracies in Central and Latin America, and diverse regimes in Africa and the Middle East. The book illuminates major themes in studies of democracy and democratization, comparative politics, elections and voting behavior, political sociology, international development, public opinion and political behavior, political institutions, and public policy.Less
Many elections fail. The most overt malpractices used by rulers include imprisoning dissidents, harassing adversaries, coercing voters, vote-rigging counts, and finally, if losing, blatantly disregarding the people's choice. Administrative irregularities are also common, such as inaccurate electoral registers, ballot miscounts, and security defects. Flawed contests have triggered public protests and international criticism. It is time to take stock of these problems. This book addresses three related themes: what standards and evidence determine when elections fail? What strengthens effective, impartial, and independent electoral authorities? And, do failed contests undermine political legitimacy? International experts bring new concepts, theories, and evidence to illuminate these issues, drawing upon a range of cases in established democracies such as Britain and the United States, newer democracies in Central and Latin America, and diverse regimes in Africa and the Middle East. The book illuminates major themes in studies of democracy and democratization, comparative politics, elections and voting behavior, political sociology, international development, public opinion and political behavior, political institutions, and public policy.
Malcolm Torry
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781447311249
- eISBN:
- 9781447311287
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447311249.003.0012
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
The history of the citizenship debate in the UK is related. Citizenship rights are discussed, as are economic rights, citizenship duties, and the idea of reciprocity. A Citizen's Income would ...
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The history of the citizenship debate in the UK is related. Citizenship rights are discussed, as are economic rights, citizenship duties, and the idea of reciprocity. A Citizen's Income would contribute to a civic minimum and thus to the necessary basis for citizenship duties and real freedom. In a more globalised world, people possess layered citizenship, i.e., they are citizens at national, regional, and global levels; and at each layer they experience degrees of citizenship. National, regional and global Citizen's Incomes would recognise and enhance citizenships at these different levels. The suggestion is made that the electoral register should be used to determine who should receive a Citizen's Income. As well as providing a criterion for receipt, this would enhance democratic engagement. A Citizen's Income would come to define citizenship, and to define the boundaries of the citizenry, as much as it would recognise our citizenship. It would make it easier for us to fulfil our citizenship duties, via employment and other kinds of work, and it would enhance rights both to work and to income.Less
The history of the citizenship debate in the UK is related. Citizenship rights are discussed, as are economic rights, citizenship duties, and the idea of reciprocity. A Citizen's Income would contribute to a civic minimum and thus to the necessary basis for citizenship duties and real freedom. In a more globalised world, people possess layered citizenship, i.e., they are citizens at national, regional, and global levels; and at each layer they experience degrees of citizenship. National, regional and global Citizen's Incomes would recognise and enhance citizenships at these different levels. The suggestion is made that the electoral register should be used to determine who should receive a Citizen's Income. As well as providing a criterion for receipt, this would enhance democratic engagement. A Citizen's Income would come to define citizenship, and to define the boundaries of the citizenry, as much as it would recognise our citizenship. It would make it easier for us to fulfil our citizenship duties, via employment and other kinds of work, and it would enhance rights both to work and to income.
