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5 - The caucus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2009

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Summary

The establishment of local party associations in most constituencies soon after the second Reform Act nearly doubled the electorate, the affiliation of these associations with national umbrella organizations, and the role these new organizations played in disciplining MPs became the subjects of a series of polemical contemporary examinations. W. E. Forster's well-publicized altercation with the Bradford Liberal Association in the 1870s was painted as an intemperate attack by rabid non-conformists on a moderate statesman. The fancied resemblance of the Birmingham plan of organization to American big-city machines, the vigorous activity of the National Liberal Federation in the 1880s, Randolph Churchill's attempt to use the National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations as a vehicle for his ambitions – all these made lively topics in the periodical literature and, later, in books. The culmination of this literature was Mosei Ostrogorski's forceful attack at the end of the century on the new forms of British party organization, which put forth a view of this organization – emphasizing its importance in disciplining MPs – that is still widely influential, especially among political scientists.

This chapter examines Ostrogorski's views. The first section reviews the history of extra-parliamentary party organization from an Ostrogorskian perspective, then turns to more recent and rather different assessments. The second section focuses specifically on what effect, if any, local party associations had on the party loyalty of MPs.

EXTRA-PARLIAMENTARY PARTY ORGANIZATION

Election campaigns before the second Reform Act were still organized in an ad hoc fashion.

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The Efficient Secret
The Cabinet and the Development of Political Parties in Victorian England
, pp. 37 - 44
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1987

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  • The caucus
  • Gary W. Cox
  • Book: The Efficient Secret
  • Online publication: 02 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511571473.007
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  • The caucus
  • Gary W. Cox
  • Book: The Efficient Secret
  • Online publication: 02 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511571473.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The caucus
  • Gary W. Cox
  • Book: The Efficient Secret
  • Online publication: 02 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511571473.007
Available formats
×