The Spirit of Reform, 1832 and 1867

1980 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellis A. Wasson
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Political Reform ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
The Political ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Ruling Class ◽  
Parliamentary Reform ◽  
1 John ◽  
Progressive Force ◽  
Landed Elite

The connection between political reform and aristocratic decline is central to an understanding of nineteenth-century Britain. No one denies that the landed elite dominated the institutions which passed the parliamentary reform acts of 1832 and 1867. However, historians continue to speculate about the motives that inspired these remarkable measures. Was the ruling class retreating, retrenching, being overthrown, or surrendering gracefully? The articles appearing in this issue by David Spring, Richard Davis, and Thomas Gallagher occasion an opportunity to reflect further on this question. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to a neglected aspect of the reform process, especially in relation to the 1832 act, the first and most important step in the aristocracy's displacement. This element was the spirit of reform, a progressive force, that made the great reform bill something more than either a concession or a cure.Professors Davis and Gallagher remind us of the extraordinary change in the political firmament wrought by the 1832 act. Those who argue, in response to the traditional interpretation of the Whig historians, that the great bill scarcely altered anything find it increasingly difficult to sustain their case.1 John Cannon, Michael Brock, and others have already undermined much of the ground upon which the revisionists, led by D. C. Moore, based their analysis. An extraordinary array of convincing evidence has been adduced to show that Earl Grey and his colleagues were not in the business of trying to cure the source of demands for reform in order to avoid yielding to the demands themselves. Professor Davis has been particularly effective in demonstrating Moore's anachronistic view of deference.

Economic Surplus, the Baran Ratio, and Capital Accumulation

2019 ◽  
pp. 25-39
Author(s):  
Zhun Xu
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Capital Accumulation ◽  
Capital Formation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ruling Class ◽  
Economic Surplus ◽  
Effective Utilization ◽  
Seminal Contribution

In 1957, in the Political Economy of Growth, Paul Baran made a seminal contribution to our understanding of the connection between economic surplus—a concept he introduced into the development discussion—and growth. Given that the ruling class controls the surplus of society, how the surplus is used—whether it is invested, consumed, or simply wasted—is at its discretion. The effective utilization of surplus implies a reasonable rate of capital accumulation and economic development. In the following study of the utilization of surplus I compare the size of surplus and gross capital formation in a variety of countries starting from the mid–nineteenth century.

The Origin and Enactment of the Indian Age of Consent Bill, 1891

1962 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles H. Heimsath
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Social Reform ◽  
Political Reform ◽  
Reform Movement ◽  
The Political ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
National Organization ◽  
Age Of Consent ◽  
The Social ◽  
Local Support

The Indian social reform movement in the nineteenth century, like the political reform movement, remained unorganized on an all-India basis until the 1880's. Local groups functioned throughout the country in many cases along similar lines, but without regular and specific knowledge of each other. Virtually the only effort for social reform well publicized throughout the country had been Vidyasagar's Widow Remarriage movement, which however was never nationally organized and which found local support only when a reformer felt inclined to press for it; the founder himself lost interest in the cause long before his death in 1891. Unlike the political reformers, the social reformers gave no evidence, so far as the present writer knows, of concern about the absence of a national organization to direct and stimulate their activities. If it had any strength, such an organization would, in fact, embarrass them into a unity of principles and methods for which, before 1880, they were quite unprepared.

scholarly journals Petitioners and Rebels: Petitioning for Parliamentary Reform in Regency England

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 553-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Poole
Keyword(s):  
Political Reform ◽  
Mass Action ◽  
The Political ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Home Office ◽  
Grassroots Organization ◽  
Working Classes ◽  
Parliamentary Reform ◽  
The Right

The national petitioning campaign for parliamentary reform in 1816–17 was the biggest such movement before Chartism. It generated more than 700 local petitions with approaching a million signatures, representing perhaps 25 percent of adult males and extending the political nation well into the working classes. It was particularly strong in the Lancashire manufacturing districts, where economic grievances such as hunger and exploitation were converted through petitioning into arguments for political reform. The moving figure was Major John Cartwright, a veteran reformer who emerges as a more radical figure than usually supposed. The rejection of so many petitions by Parliament provided a legitimation for remonstrance and resistance, feeding through into extraparliamentary protests such as the march of the Manchester “Blanketeers” in 1817 and the mass platform movement of 1819 and “Peterloo.” The research combines a study of the petitions and the radical press with a close examination of the Home Office material, yielding insights into both grassroots organization and the strategies of the authorities, local and national. While the strategy of mass action was defeated by repression, the right of the unenfranchised masses to engage in political petitioning was conceded in principle long before the advent of formal democracy.

The French Strikes of 1995 and their Political Aftermath

1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dick Howard
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Class Struggle ◽  
Political Reform ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
Industrial Democracies ◽  
Political Choices ◽  
The Government

LIKE MANY OF HIS APHORISMS, MARX'S DESIGNATION OF THE FRENCH as the model political nation (leaving the economy to the English and philosophy for the Germans) contained enough of a grain of truth to remain relevant for over a century. Since 1989, the idea of politics based on the revolutionary experience begun in 1789 and pursued by a unified and international working-class subject has lost its utility for understanding the political choices facing modern industrial democracies. Nowhere is the need for a new understanding of the political more clear than in France itself, as illustrated by the strikes that paralysed the country for more than three weeks in November and December of 1995 and forced the government to retreat. While some saw the birth of a ‘social movement’, cheered the victory of society against the state, or imagined that class struggle had begun anew, the more pessimistic argued that the French had once again proven themselves incapable of political reform. The former presuppose a model of politics from the nineteenth century, the latter look forward to a globalized twenty-first century. For those of us still living in the twentieth, analysis of the French strikes can help us to understand how politics can make the shape of the twentyfirst century less inevitable.

scholarly journals Political reforms in Jordan following the events of the Arab Spring

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-17
Author(s):  
Mazen Hussien Faleh Hawamdeh ◽  
Ahmad Saher Ahmad Al-Qteishat
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Political Reform ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
Political Reforms ◽  
The Arab Spring

Following the events of the Arab Spring and the popular protests that broke out in some countries in the Arab world in 2011, including Jordan, extended political reforms were carried out in Jordan, including major constitutional amendments and developments in political life, political parties and civil society institutions. The study aims to identify the reality of the political reform process in Jordan that took place after the events of the Arab Spring. The importance of the study stems from the depth of the effects of the variables of this period on Jordan and its reform programs and its transformations towards democracy. The study aims to achieve the following objectives: To identify the nature of the factors and reasons that contributed to the outbreak of the current Arab revolutions, and identifying the reality of the process of political reform in Jordan before the events of the Arab Spring, and to study and analyze the political reforms in Jordan after the events of the Arab Spring.

The Sailor, the Lover, the Husband, and the King

2019 ◽  
pp. 77-98
Author(s):  
Cindy McCreery
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
The Political ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Victorian Period ◽  
Parliamentary Reform ◽  
National Hero ◽  
Naval Officers

William IV’s life (1765–1837) overlaps the period of Paul Langford’s A Polite and Commercial People, and encompasses several of its key themes. William’s sexual adventures, complex family life, and struggle to find a suitable wife recall the challenges facing both his Hanoverian relatives and other elite men of his generation, including fellow naval officers. Yet William’s life also illuminates the changing public attitudes to politics and rulers which marked the uneven transition from the Georgian to the Victorian period. Bitter attacks on William’s relationship with his wife Adelaide alternated with mostly sympathetic accounts of his role in the movements for Catholic Emancipation and parliamentary reform. Ultimately, if oddly, William was held up as a national hero and commercial symbol of Britain’s early nineteenth-century progress. Above all, William’s life was chronicled through caricature, which A Polite and Commercial People drew attention to as a distinctive and significant element of Georgian culture. An assessment of his representation in both caricatures and other engravings, including new forms such as lithographs, helps us to better understand William’s contemporary significance, and in turn the political, social, and cultural changes and continuities of the Georgian and Victorian periods.

THE GENESIS OF CONSERVATIVE IDEOLOGY, DEVELOPMENT TRENDS AND PROSPECTS IN THE POLITICAL REFORM OF MODERN COUNTRIES (ON THE EXAMPLE OF RUSSIA AND FRANCE)

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 38-43
Author(s):  
MARIETA EPREMYAN ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Reform ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Political ◽  
Development Trends ◽  
Conservative Ideology ◽  
The World ◽  
Christian Conservatism ◽  
The Future ◽  
Conservative Policy ◽  
Depth Interviews

The article examines the epistemological roots of conservative ideology, development trends and further prospects in political reform not only in modern Russia, but also in other countries. The author focuses on the “world” and Russian conservatism. In the course of the study, the author illustrates what opportunities and limitations a conservative ideology can have in political reform not only in modern Russia, but also in the world. In conclusion, it is concluded that the prospect of a conservative trend in the world is wide enough. To avoid immigration and to control the development of technology in society, it is necessary to adhere to a conservative policy. Conservatism is a consolidating ideology. It is no coincidence that the author cites as an example the understanding of conservative ideology by the French due to the fact that Russia has its own vision of the ideology of conservatism. If we say that conservatism seeks to preserve something and respects tradition, we must bear in mind that traditions in different societies, which form some kind of moral imperatives, cannot be a single phenomenon due to different historical destinies and differing religious views. Considered from the point of view of religion, Muslim and Christian conservatism will be somewhat confrontational on some issues. The purpose of the work was to consider issues related to the role, evolution and prospects of conservative ideology in the political reform of modern countries. The author focuses on Russia and France. To achieve this goal, the method of in-depth interviews with experts on how they understand conservatism was chosen. Already today, conservatism is quite diverse. It is quite possible that in the future it will transform even more and acquire new reflections.

Capital californiano, necesidad presupuestal y cambio político: Juan Temple y el arrendamiento de la Casa de Moneda de México, 1827–1857

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-351
Author(s):  
Omar Velasco Herrera
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Las Casas ◽  
Siglo Xix ◽  
The Government

Durante la primera mitad del siglo xix, las necesidades presupuestales del erario mexicano obligaron al gobierno a recurrir al endeudamiento y al arrendamiento de algunas de las casas de moneda más importantes del país. Este artículo examina las condiciones políticas y económicas que hicieron posible el relevo del capital británico por el estadounidense—en estricto sentido, californiano—como arrendatario de la Casa de Moneda de México en 1857. Asimismo, explora el desarrollo empresarial de Juan Temple para explicar la coyuntura política que hizo posible su llegada, y la de sus descendientes, a la administración de la ceca de la capital mexicana. During the first half of the nineteenth century, the budgetary needs of the Mexican treasury forced the government to resort to borrowing and leasing some of the most important mints in the country. This article examines the political and economic conditions that allowed for the replacement of British capital by United States capital—specifically, Californian—as the lessee of the Mexican National Mint in 1857. It also explores the development of Juan Temple’s entrepreneurship to explain the political circumstances that facilitated his admission, and that of his descendants, into the administration of the National Mint in Mexico City.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document