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Democratisation in Britain

Elites, Civil Society and Reform Since 1800

  • Textbook
  • © 2002

Overview

Authors:
  1. John Garrard
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  • A new interpretation of British nineteenth century and twentieth century history in light of current debates about democratisation
    Explores the subject of franchise reform from the new perspective of democratisation and democratisation theory

Part of the book series: British Studies Series (BRSS)

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • John Garrard
    Pages 1-19

  3. The Old System

    • John Garrard
    Pages 20-36

  4. The Process of Inclusion

    • John Garrard
    Pages 37-83

  5. The Role of British Political Elites

    • John Garrard
    Pages 84-120

  6. The Political Fitness of Middle-Class Males

    • John Garrard
    Pages 121-151

  7. Working Men and Political Fitness: Access to Civil Society

    • John Garrard
    Pages 152-182

  8. Working Men and Political Fitness: Internal Self-Governance

    • John Garrard
    Pages 183-215

  9. Women and Political Fitness

    • John Garrard
    Pages 216-259

  10. The Democratisation of Political Behaviour

    • John Garrard
    Pages 260-278

  11. Conclusion

    • John Garrard
    Pages 279-283

  12. Back Matter

    Pages 284-317
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Keywords

About this book

Democratisation in Britain is a novel reinterpretation of British social and political history since 1800 in light of the continuing debate about democratisation. As such, the book goes far beyond standard histories of political reform. In common with the politics in Northern Europe, North America and Australasia, Britain's democratisation began early and in highly favourable circumstances. The process took place in stages, only half-consciously and in the context of a generally benign economic cycle. The country possessed a vibrant civil society at most levels of its adult population, along with a flexible, competitive and opportunistic set of political elites. Partly as a result, the popular expectations and demands released by democratisation were modest and untroublesome. Countries undergoing democratisation since 1918 have been far less fortunate, and the process in thereby much more difficult. Thus this book may be seen as portraying an 'ideal type' against which to compare and contrast these later experiences.
Democratisation in Britain combines the disciplines of political science and history, and will be of interest to scholars and students in both fields.

About the author

JOHN GARRARD is Senior Lecturer in Politics and Contemporary History at the University of Salford, and is a member of its European Studies Research Institute. Much of his work has been located on the borderline of political science and history.

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