Political ideology in Britain PDF
Preview Political ideology in Britain
Political Ideology in Britain Robert Leach Political Ideology in Britain Contemporary Political Studies Series Series Editor: John Benyon, University of Leicester Published DAVID BROUGHTON Public Opinion and Political Polling in Britain MICHAEL CONNOLLY Politics and Policy Making in Northern Ireland DAVID DENVER Elections and Voting Behaviour in Britain; 2nd edn JUSTIN FISHER British Political Parties ROBERT GARNER Environmental Politics: Britain, Europe and the Global Environment; 2nd edn WYN GRANT Economic Policy in Britain WYN GRANT Pressure Groups and British Politics DEREK HEATER and GEOFFREY BERRIDGE Introduction to International Politics DILYS M. HILL Urban Policy and Politics in Britain ROBERT LEACH Political Ideology in Britain ROBERT LEACH and JANIE PERCY-SMITH Local Governance in Britain PETER MADGWICK British Government: The Central Executive Territory PHILIP NORTON Does Parliament Matter? MALCOLM PUNNETT Selecting the Party Leader ROBERT PYPER The British Civil Service Forthcoming ANDREW GEDDES The European Union and British Politics IAN HOLLIDAY The NHS and British Health Policy RAYMOND KUHN Politics and the Media in Britain ROBERT PYPER and PETER FALCONER The New Public Management in Britain Political Ideology in Britain Robert Leach © Robert Leach 2002 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 uner 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 unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2002 by PALGRAVE Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE is the new global academic imprint of St. Martin’s Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd). ISBN 0-333-96350-4 hardback ISBN 0-333-96353-9 paperback 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 Leach, Robert, 1941– Political ideology in Britain/Robert Leach. p. cm. — (Contemporary political studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–333–96350–4 1. Political science — Great Britain. 2. Ideology — Great Britain. 3. Right and left (Political science) I. Title. II. Contemporary political studies (Palgrave (Firm)) JA84.G7 L395 2002 320.5’0941–dc21 2001059839 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 Printed in Hong Kong Contents List of Figures and Tables x Preface xi 1 Introduction: Ideology in British Politics 1 Political ideas and ideologies 1 Ideas, power and interests 2 Ideology as dogmatism – the ‘end of ideology’ 5 Contemporary approaches to the study of ideology 6 Studying ideologies – the issue of bias 7 Elements of ideologies 8 Classifying ideologies – left and right 11 Levels of ideology 14 Power, influence and indoctrination 15 Ideology and pragmatism in British politics 17 Moderation and consensus in British politics 19 The British political tradition 20 Further reading 22 2 Liberalism 23 Introduction 23 Liberalism: underlying assumptions and values 25 The Whig tradition 28 Radicals 30 Classical economics and utilitarianism 32 Victorian liberalism 34 Liberalism, capitalism and democracy 37 The New Liberalism 39 The decline of the Liberal Party – and the triumph of liberalism? 42 The ideas of modern Liberals and Liberal Democrats 43 Further reading 45 v vi Contents 3 Conservatism 47 Introduction: traditional and contemporary Conservatism 47 The Tory tradition 48 Conservatism: reaction and gradualism 49 Reason and tradition 53 Human imperfection 54 Authority, leadership and Tory democracy 56 The defence of property 58 Paternalism and social reform 60 Protection and Tory collectivism 62 Patriotism and imperialism 65 Further reading 66 4 Socialism and Labourism 68 Introduction 68 Socialist values 69 Evolutionary and revolutionary socialism 70 Working-class politics in nineteenth-century Britain 73 Marxism and the British labour movement 75 Trade unionism and labourism 77 Ethical socialism 80 Fabian socialism 81 State socialism and alternatives to state socialism 83 Labour in power? MacDonaldism 86 Labour in power – the Attlee government 87 Revisionism, fundamentalism and pragmatism 89 Socialism inside and outside the Labour Party 92 Further reading 93 5 Nationalism 95 Introduction 95 What is nationalism 96 When and why nationalism developed 97 Varieties of nationalism 98 Nations and states in Britain 103 Nationalism in nineteenth-century Britain 107 Scottish and Welsh nationalism 108 Nationalism and devolution 110 Europe, regionalism and nationalism 113 Contents vii Globalization, decentralization and the future of nationalism 115 Further reading 117 6 Fascism, Racism and Multiculturalism 119 Introduction: racism and fascism 119 Racist ideology: critical issues 120 The origins and development of racism 121 ‘Scientific’ racism 124 Fascism and Nazism 125 British fascism 127 Immigration and race in modern Britain – a new racism? 129 Racism, class and religion 131 Institutional racism 133 Anti-racism 134 Ethnic-minority community mobilization 136 Multiculturalism 138 Further reading 141 7 Feminism 143 Introduction 143 The origins and development of feminist thought – liberal feminism 144 Modern feminist criticism of liberal feminism 146 Socialist and Marxist feminism 148 Criticism of socialist and Marxist feminism 150 Radical feminism 151 Criticism of radical feminism 155 Eco-feminism 156 The impact of the New Right – Conservative feminism? 158 Feminism and post-modernism 160 Post-feminism or new feminism? 162 Further reading 166 8 Green Ideology 168 Introduction 168 Green and other ideologies 169 Greens and the Right 170 viii Contents Greens and the Left 171 Key elements of Green thinking 173 Limits to growth – sustainability 174 Ecocentrism 175 The holistic approach 178 Small is beautiful? 179 Green strategy 181 Further reading 189 9 The New Right, Thatcherism and Contemporary Conservatism 190 1975: a change in direction 190 Classical liberalism, neo-liberalism and the free market 191 Neo-conservatism 195 Tensions within Thatcherism 197 Ideology and pragmatism 198 The legacy of Thatcherism 201 From Thatcher to Major 202 Conservatism for the twenty-first century – Hague and after 204 Further reading 209 10 From Old to New Labour 210 A new party with a new ideology? 210 Old Labour, democratic socialism and social democracy 211 New Labour? 213 The international context 215 The end or redefinition of socialism 216 A third way? 219 New Labour in government 221 New Labour in the new millennium 223 Further reading 224 11 Conclusion: The Future of British Politics 226 British politics and the wider world 226 More of the same? The continuation of two-party duopoly 227 Party and ideological realignment? 228 The end of British politics as we know it? 230 Contents ix Radical alternatives? 231 The growth of alienation and apathy? 232 Bibliography 235 Index 249
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