The Conservative Party And The Nation

Since the 1880s, the Conservative Party has been an important political force in Britain. In this study of Conservative ideology since the end of Second World War, first published in 1974, Andrew Gamble considers the nature of Conservative party opinion, and the factors that have accounted for its success. The adaptation of the party post-1945 is discussed, as well as the ascendancy of the Right progressives in the leadership, and the challenge of the Whigs and Imperialists. Finally, the book includes a discussion of the fluctuations within the Conservative Government between 1970 and 1974, with an account of what Gamble believes to have been ultimately a failure. A rigorous and comprehensive analysis of Conservative thought and policy, this study will be of particular value to those with an interest in the history of British Conservative politics and government.

For the better part of this century the Conservatives have been the governing political party of Britain. During that period the country has fallen in stature by virtually every criterion of measurement which can be applied. Yet the primary objective of the Conservative Party, or so it claims and its supporters believe, is to advance and protect the interests of the British Nation-State. How are we to understand its catastrophic and repetitious failure, over practically the whole of this period, to achieve that objective?

This book re-examines the claim of the Conservative Party to be the ‘national party’ and in its politics to express the enduring ‘national interest’. It explores the historical character of the Conservative Party, in particular the significance of the nation in its self-understanding. It addresses the political culture of the modern party, one which proclaims a Unionist vocation but rests mainly on English support, and considers how the Englishness of the party is reconciled with the politics of British statecraft. It considers the constitutional challenges which the Conservative Party faces in managing a changing Union, in negotiating a changing Europe and in defining a changing national interest. The book is essential reading not only for students and scholars of the Conservative Party but also for those who want to make sense of the transformations taking place in modern British politics.

The triumph of the conservative movement in reshaping American politics is one of the great untold stories of the past fifty years. At the end of World War II, hardly anyone in public life would admit to being a conservative, but as Lee Edwards shows in this magisterial work, in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, a small group of committed men and women began to chip away at the liberal colossus, and their descendants would scale the ramparts of power in the 1980s and 1990s. Not even the fall of Newt Gingrich has changed the indisputable fact that the movement has truly rewritten the rules of American political life, and the republic will never be the same. Edwards tells the stories of how conservatives built a movement from the ground up by starting magazines, by building grass-roots organizations, and by seizing control of the Republican party from those who espoused collaboration with the liberals and promised only to manage the welfare state more efficiently and not to dismantle it. But most of all he tells the story of four men, four leaders who put their personal stamp on this movement and helped to turn it into the most important political force in our country today: * Robert Taft, "Mr. Republican," the beacon of conservative principle during the lean Roosevelt and Truman years * Barry Goldwater, "Mr. Conservative," the flinty Westerner who inspired a new generation * Ronald Reagan, "Mr. President," the optimist whose core beliefs were sturdy enough to subdue an evil empire * Newt Gingrich, "Mr. Speaker," the fiery visionary who won a Congress but lost control of it By their example and vision, these men brought intellectual and ideological stability to an often fractions conservative movement and held the high ground against the pragmatists who would compromise conservative principles for transitory political advantage. And through their efforts and those of their supporters, they transformed the American political landscape so thoroughly that a Democratic president would one day proclaim, "The era of big government is over." Political history in the grand style, The Conservative Revolution is the definitive book on a conservative movement that not only has left its mark on our century but is poised to shape the century about to dawn.

This work analyzes one of the most successful political organizations the world has ever seen. Since the election of 1945, the Conserative Party has been decisively defeated once (1966) but has recorded eight clear victories. This independent survey provides an assessment of the party, its development and the people who have made it what it is. It asks: what is the secret of the Tories' success?; party funding - where does it come from?; electioneering - how much is the party's success down to Labour's failure? This book seeks to answer these questions, so providing an insight into the changing face of British political and social life.

A timely consideration of the development and content of the Conservatives' approaches to social policy and how they inform the Coalition's policies.

The Right Nation is not "for" liberals, and it's not "for" conservatives. It's for any of us who want to understand one of the most important forces shaping American life. How did America's government become so much more conservative in just a generation? Compared to Europe-or to America under Richard Nixon-even President Howard Dean would preside over a distinctly more conservative nation in many crucial respects: welfare is gone; the death penalty is deeply rooted; abortion is under siege; regulations are being rolled back; the pillars of New Deal liberalism are turning to sand. Conservative positions have not prevailed everywhere, of course, but this book shows us why they've been so successfully advanced over such a broad front: because the battle has been waged by well-organized, shrewd, and committed troops who to some extent have been lucky in their enemies. John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, like modern-day Tocquevilles, have the perspective to see this vast subject in the round, unbeholden to forces on either side. They steer The Economist's coverage of the United States and have unrivaled access to resources and-because of the magazine's renown for iconoclasm and analytical rigor-have had open-door access wherever the book's research has led them. And it has led them everywhere: To reckon with the American right, you have to get out there where its centers are and understand the power flow among the brain trusts, the mouthpieces, the organizers, and the foot soldiers. The authors write with wit and skewer whole herds of sacred cows, but they also bring empathy to bear on a subject that sees all too little of it. You won't recognize this America from the far-left's or the far-right's caricatures. Divided into three parts-history, anatomy, and prophecy-The Right Nation comes neither to bury the American conservative movement nor to praise it blindly but to understand it, in all its dimensions, as the most powerful and effective political movement of our age. Chapter One FROM KENNEBUNKPORT TO CRAWFORD Sir Lewis Namier, the great historian of English politics in the age of George III, once remarked that "English history, and especially English parliamentary history, is made by families rather than individuals." The same could be said of American political history, especially in the age of George I and George II. There is no better introduction to the radical transformation of Republicanism in the past generation-from patrician to populist, from Northeastern to Southwestern, from pragmatic to ideological-than the radical transformation of Republicanism's current leading family, the Bushes. Grandfather Prescott The Bushes began political life as classic establishment Republicans: WASPs who summered in Kennebunkport, educated their children at boarding schools and the Ivy League and claimed family ties to the British royal family (Queen Elizabeth II is the thirteenth cousin of the first President Bush). George W.'s paternal great-grandfather, Samuel P. Bush, was a steel and railroad executive who became the first president of the National Association of Manufacturers and a founding member of the United States Chamber of Commerce. His maternal great-grandfather, George Herbert Walker, was even grander. The cofounder of W. A. Harriman, Wall Street's oldest private investment bank, Walker's stature was summed up by his twin Manhattan addresses: his office at One Wall Street and his home at One Sutton Place. There was certainly muck beneath this brass: both Walker and Bush had their share of Wall Street shenanigans and cozy government deals, but in the age...

Won the 2011 Prize for best publication on Conservatives and Conservatism awarded by the specialist group 'Conservatives and Conservatism' of the UK Political Studies Association.

The Conservatives are back - but what took them so long? Why did the world's most successful political party dump Margaret Thatcher only to commit electoral suicide under John Major? Just as importantly, what stopped the Tories getting their act together until David Cameron came along? The answers are as intriguing as the questions.