English bourgeoisie of the Industrial Revolution did not ‘The revolutionize society as a whole. Afraid from the beginning of the power of the new labouring masses brought into being by and for the Industrial Revolution itself, intimidated by the spectacle of the French Revolution and all it signified, the English middle class quickly arrived at a with the English ancien régime. Because of its basically ‘compromise’ capitalist structure (tenant-farming carried on by wage-labour for profit) and its absence of legal definition as a privileged estate, the aristocracy was such that a of this sort was possible.’ ‘compromise’ From a Whiggish perspective, the unwritten constitution is the ideal mechanism for adapting processes of government to changing circumstances. Whig historians of the constitution point to the robustness of the Westminster Model (WM) as it responds and adapts to ever changing circumstances and periodic reforming impulses (see Oakeshott 1962; Birch 1964; Beer 1965; Hennessy 1995; and for a critique King 2009; Dunleavy 2009). They argue the advantage of the unwritten constitution is that it is flexible and can adapt to new circumstances without rupture. From a Whiggish perspective, the UK has retained its traditions as a democracy whilst adapting to a changing world. Both Marxists and Whigs see Britain avoiding upheaval by either accommodating [Whig] or co-opting [Marxists] new social forces as a mechanism for preserving the system as a whole. For Judge (1993), much of the political process has been framed by Parliament and Parliamentary conceptions of politics. Consequently, there are many examples of various political forces, but maybe most obviously the Labour Party, curtailing their more radical tendencies
‘The English bourgeoisie of the Industrial Revolution did not revolutionize society as a whole. Afraid from the beginning of the power of the new labouring masses brought into being by and for the Industrial Revolution itself, intimidated by the spectacle of the French Revolution and all it signified, the English middle class quickly arrived at a ‘compromise’ with the English ancien régime. Because of its basically capitalist structure (tenant-farming carried on by wage-labour for profit) and its absence of legal definition as a privileged estate, the aristocracy was such that a ‘compromise’ of this sort was possible.’ From a Whiggish perspective, the unwritten constitution is the ideal mechanism for adapting processes of government to changing circumstances. Whig historians of the constitution point to the robustness of the Westminster Model (WM) as it responds and adapts to ever changing circumstances and periodic reforming impulses (see Oakeshott 1962; Birch 1964; Beer 1965; Hennessy 1995; and for a critique King 2009; Dunleavy 2009). They argue the advantage of the unwritten constitution is that it is flexible and can adapt to new circumstances without rupture. From a Whiggish perspective, the UK has retained its traditions as a democracy whilst adapting to a changing world. Both Marxists and Whigs see Britain avoiding upheaval by either accommodating [Whig] or co-opting [Marxists] new social forces as a mechanism for preserving the system as a whole. For Judge (1993), much of the political process has been framed by Parliament and Parliamentary conceptions of politics. Consequently, there are many examples of various political forces, but maybe most obviously the Labour Party, curtailing their more radical tendencies
BPT_and_Devolution_Paper_Representation_Journal_Revised_Feb_2016.docx