The Governing Of Britain 1688 1848

Focusing on the institutions and players of central and local government during an era of great transformation, Peter Jupp examines the cohesive nature of the British state, and how Britain was governed between 1688 and 1848. Divided into two parts, bisected by the accession of George III in 1760, this study: examines the changes to the framework and function of executive government presents an analysis of its achievements, the composition and functions of Parliament explores Parliament’s role in government looks at the interaction between the executive, Parliament and the public. Providing new insights into the formulation of notions and traditions of legislation, the public sphere and popular politics, The Governing of Britain is an essential guide to a formative era in political life.

Focusing on the institutions and players of central and local government during an era of great transformation, Peter Jupp examines the cohesive nature of the British state, and how Britain was governed between 1688 and 1848. Divided into two parts, bisected by the accession of George III in 1760, this study: examines the changes to the framework and function of executive government presents an analysis of its achievements, the composition and functions of Parliament explores Parliament’s role in government looks at the interaction between the executive, Parliament and the public. Providing new insights into the formulation of notions and traditions of legislation, the public sphere and popular politics, The Governing of Britain is an essential guide to a formative era in political life.

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of both the structures of 18th-century politics - national and local - and the major issues that provided the dynamics of a period that was far from static. The author considers the position not only in England, but also in Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The central emphasis of the book is on the interrelationship of political structure and content. Jeremy Black argues that power was not solely sought for its own sake, but also in order to advance or sustain particular policies and interests. He also stresses that this was true not only of Whitehall, Westminster and royal palaces centring around London; but also of parish vestries, town councils and commissions of the peace throughout the country. This study is intended as an introductory textbook for students. In addition to its analysis, the book acquaints students with the moost recent historiographical developments in the subject and the text is also supported by a section of documents.

Jeremy Black sets the politics of eighteenth century Britain into the fascinating context of social, economic, cultural, religious and scientific developments. The second edition of this successful text by a leading authority in the field has now been updated and expanded to incorporate the latest research and scholarship.

Law and Society in England 1750–1950 is an indispensable text for those wishing to study English legal history and to understand the foundations of the modern British state. In this new updated edition the authors explore the complex relationship between legal and social change. They consider the ways in which those in power themselves imagined and initiated reform and the ways in which they were obliged to respond to demands for change from outside the legal and political classes. What emerges is a lively and critical account of the evolution of modern rights and expectations, and an engaging study of the formation of contemporary social, administrative and legal institutions and ideas, and the road that was travelled to create them. The book is divided into eight chapters: Institutions and Ideas; Land; Commerce and Industry; Labour Relations; The Family; Poverty and Education; Accidents; and Crime. This extensively referenced analysis of modern social and legal history will be invaluable to students and teachers of English law, political science, and social history.

This collection of chapters focuses on the regulation of the British economy in the long eighteenth century as a means to understand the synergies between political, social and economic change as Britain was transformed into a global power. Inspired by recent research on consumerism and credit, an international team of leading academics examine the ways in which state and society both advanced and responded to fundamental economic changes. The studies embrace all aspects of the regulatory process, from developing ideas on the economy, to the passage of legislation, and to the negotiation of economic policy and change in practice. They range broadly over Britain and its empire and also consider Britain's exceptionality through comparative studies. Together, the book challenges the general characterization of the period as a shift from a regulated economy to a more laissez-faire system, highlighting the uncertain relationship between the state and economic interests across the long eighteenth century.

This book examines the relationship between imperial governance and political economy in eighteenth-century Britain, particularly in Canada and Ireland. It is concerned with the way economic ideology and party politics were mutually constitutive; and with the way extra-parliamentary interests both facilitated, and were co-opted into, strategies of governance and commercial regulation. Rather than treat political economy as a pre-existing intellectual orthodoxy that shaped imperial policymaking, it focuses on the ways in which economic thought was generated in moments of imperial crisis – especially those where politicians, commercial interest groups, and pamphleteer economists were forced to wrestle with the tensions between economic growth, political authority, and social stability. By rooting economic discourse and debate in specific problems of imperial commerce and administration, and by highlighting the many different actors and negotiations that produced economic policy, it argues that the transition from mercantilism to liberalism – the shift from protectionism to free trade – is a flawed description of eighteenth-century developments in economic thought.

In the years1815-1832, Britain came close to revolution. Fewer than twenty years separate the Battle of Waterloo from the passing of the ‘Great’ Reform Act but during this period Britain’s political elite was challenged as never before. In rising to that challenge, the political elite attempted, with considerable success, to ensure that Britain engineered that most perilous of transitions, from a less complex and more deferential society into a modern urban and industrial one, while avoding political revolution. In this extensively revised 2nd edition Evans engages with a welter of new material and fresh interpretations. The book sheds light both on the challenges to existing political and social authority and why those challenges were seen off. Evans examines: · The composition of Britain’s political elite and how this elite coped with the problems thrown up by a society urbanising and modernising at an unprecedented rate. · How Britain reacted to the longer-term implications of the French Revolution, including the development of a more cohesive national identity. · How the elite attempted to maintain public order in this period – and with what success. · The extent of change in Britain’s political system brought about by political, religious and administrative reforms Written in accessible style, with a rich collection of documents, chronology, glossary, a guide to further reading,and a ‘Who’s Who’ which summarises the careers and contributions of the main figures, this new edition is essential for all those interested in understanding Britain at this most crucial turning point in its history.