Changing Parties: An Anthropology of British Political Party Conferences PDF
Preview Changing Parties: An Anthropology of British Political Party Conferences
Changing Parties By the same author Florence Faucher, LES HABITS VERTS DE LA POLITIQUE Changing Parties An Anthropology of British Political Party Conferences Florence Faucher-King © Florence Faucher-King 2005 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2005 978-1-4039-0462-1 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2005 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-50946-1 ISBN 978-0-230-50988-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230509887 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Faucher-King, Florence. Changing parties:an anthropology of British political party conferences/ Florence Faucher-King. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Political parties—Great Britain—Congresses. 2. Great Britain— Politics and government—Congresses. I. Title. JN1117 F38 2005 306.2′6′0941—dc22 2005048057 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 To Rich and Lila This page intentionally left blank Contents Glossary and List of Abbreviations or Acronyms viii Acknowledgments ix 1 An Anthropological Approach to “Conventional Politics” 1 2 Why Do People Attend Conferences? 25 3 Imagined Communities 44 4 Constructing Leadership and Authority 71 5 Setting the Agenda 94 6 Making the News 121 7 The Public Performance 144 8 The Discourse of Deliberative Democracy 167 9 Direct Democracy: The Vote as Fetish 191 10 Fringe Benefits: Dissent vs Commercialisation 214 Conclusion – Politics in the Age of the Individual 236 Appendix 1: Quoted Interviews 246 Appendix 2: Conferences 1994–2002 248 Appendix 3: Comparative Overview of Change in the Four Parties 249 Notes 253 Bibliography 290 Index 304 vii Glossary and List of Abbreviations or Acronyms BNFL British Nuclear Fuel Board Supreme decision-making body (Conservative party) CAC Conference Arrangement Committee (Labour party) CLP Constituency Labour Party Composite Policy documents composited from different motions that were debated by the Labour Conference prior to the adoption of Partnership in Power in 1997 CPC Conservative Policy Centre CPF Conservative Policy Forum FPC Federal Policy Committee (Liberal Democrats) FCC Federal Conference Committee (Liberal Democrats) GMC General Management Committee of a Constituency Labour party (Labour party) GPEx Green Party Executive IPPR Institute for Public Policy Research (think tank) JPC Joint Policy Committee (Labour party) MfSS Manifesto for a Sustainable Society (Green Party) NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NEC National Executive Committee (Labour party) NPF National Policy Forum (Labour party) NU National Union of Conservative Associations OMOV One member one vote OWOW “Other Ways of Working”, Green Party working group PLP Parliamentary Labour Party PolCom Policy Committee (Green Party) PPC Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Quangos Quasi autonomous non-governmental organisations RSPB Royal Society for the Protection of Birds SOC Standing Orders Committee (Green Party) TU Trade Union WWF World Wildlife Fund, now called The Global Conserva- tion Organisation viii Acknowledgments The research in this book could not have been undertaken without the assistance of numerous people and organisations. I would like to thank the Conservative Party, the Green Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats for granting me access to their conferences and to other meetings. I am indebted to many party activists and staff who welcomed me and shared their views and experiences with me and to the journalists, lobbyists and campaigners who spoke to me and answered my queries. They cannot all be named but I would like to thank them all and especially Arlene Ryan, Chris Poole, Penny McCormack and Don Smith who opened doors for me. I also want to thank Jon Sopel, George Pascoe-Watson and Ivan Rudd. Special thanks to Willie Sullivan and John Taylor for long conversations and their friendship. A special mention should be made of Mike Woodin, a friend and admirable politician, whose untimely death is a great loss not only to friends and family but also to politics in general. This research was made possible by the support of Saint Peter’s College, the Maison Française at Oxford, the Politics Department of Stirling University and the CEVIPOF at Sciences Po, Paris. The Robert Schumann and Jean Jaurès Foundations contributed some additional funds. Gavin Williams and Vernon Bogdanor provided precious support when I was trying to define my project and “infiltrate” British parties. Finally, I would like to thank the following friends and colleagues: Stephen Ingle was of great support as Head of Department, colleague and friend. He also had the patience to read through earlier drafts and provided extremely valuable comments. Paul Whiteley encouraged me from the very start on this long exploration of British parties and even considered possibilities of a joint research project. I am sorry we never made it to the Young Conservatives Ball! He provided insightful reading of very rough drafts of this book. I thank Florence Haegel, Nicolas Sauger and Ariane Chebel d’Appollonia for their helpful suggestions on various drafts. Nina Eliasoph, whose own work was an important step in the development of my argument, has offered valuable remarks on several chapters. Special thanks to Eric Shaw for his extremely helpful suggestions on the final draft and at very short notice. Thanks to my parents for their infallible support throughout and particularly in the last couple of years of this project. Finally, special ix
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