Discuss the factors which were necessary for the emergence of liberal democracy in Britain
Discuss the factors which were necessary for the emergence of liberal democracy in Britain.
Liberal democracy, a political system characterised by freedom of expression and education, free elections, universal suffrage and a multiplicity of political parties, political decisions made through an independent governing body, and an independent judiciary, with a state monopoly on law enforcement (Elkin, 1985. p.1-8), became a central element of political discourse and struggle in the 19th century. It was an age of intense debate and battles over the relationship between state and civil society and proper distribution of political power between and within both. Old regimes of these states - monarchy, church, aristocracies and landlords - found themselves challenged by a cluster of institutions that emerged, such as the bureaucratic nation-state, extension of franchise, industrialisation and the changing social composition of the population. In this essay I shall discuss these social and economic conditions that gave rise to the emergence of a liberal democratic state in 19th century Britain.
By the 19th century the invention of labour-saving lime-saving machines had revolutionised industry. By 1851 at the Great Exhibition the UK was dubbed the workshop of the world as most mass manufactured items were produced more efficiently and competitively in Britain than elsewhere. Britain also had the commercial, financial and political power to edge out rivals at home and abroad. Large-scale production led to a long-term decline in agricultural employment and rural population. Workers were needed in coal mines, steel works, railways and ship yards, in labour that pulled them away from agricultural employment. The factory system was largely responsible for the rise of the modern city, as workers migrated into the cities in search of employment in the factories, for instance Sheffield grew in the middle of coal fields near iron ore and plenty of cooling water.
This movement to city factories destroyed old communities and created a landless urban working class within a hierarchical society held together by notions of obligation and dependence. Factory owners were locked into a highly competitive system in which they were creating riches, buying titles and using their newly acclaimed wealth to send their children to private schools. Given the decline of feudal order 'most English working people came to feel an identity of interests as between themselves, and as against their rulers and employers' (Thompson, 1963. p.8). The generalisation of an educational system based on literacy, numeracy and the promotion of universal ideas together with the long-term trend forwards higher levels of capitalisation of industrial enterprises produced a require for an increasingly differentiated workforce.
It should be noted that it was not until 1899 and the establishment of the National Board of Education that free public education was available to all children in England, however, the state had been involved in providing education to the poor since the 1830s. The naissance of the newspaper sharing public opinion combined with this more educated population to form a more politically aware population that made increasing claims on the action of the state. Given these factors, one can see the origins of the government rule of law of liberal democracy, contributed to by an educated ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
It should be noted that it was not until 1899 and the establishment of the National Board of Education that free public education was available to all children in England, however, the state had been involved in providing education to the poor since the 1830s. The naissance of the newspaper sharing public opinion combined with this more educated population to form a more politically aware population that made increasing claims on the action of the state. Given these factors, one can see the origins of the government rule of law of liberal democracy, contributed to by an educated population.
This population was growing rapidly as was the division between the working and non-working class population. The luddism movement, a social movement by workers opposed to aspects of industrialisation that they felt threatened their jobs, consolidated and further separated classes. Luddites were driven by the awareness that the Industrial Revolution was creating riches, the aim was to prevent them all falling into the hands of the bourgeoisie. Workers, upset by wage reductions and the use of unapprenticed workmen, began to break into factories at night to destroy the new machines that the employers were using. Although there was a capital punishment for these crimes, the luddites suggested the earliest trade unions, the legal status of which was established by the Royal Commission in1867 which agreed that the establishment of the organisations was to the advantage of both employers and employees. This is an example of the political system being required to defend civil liberties against the encroachment of the government institutions and powerful forces in society, a concept attached to liberal democracy. The luddites also encouraged the state monopoly on law enforcement, another dominant discourse of the emergence of liberal democracy. However, representative democracy does not always act for the majority of the public and it is often argued that a government of elected representatives 'can and in fact often does serve as a mechanism through which a ruling class organizes its domination over other classes' (Levine, 1944. p.151).
Patterns of community and family life were factors of the changing social composition of the population. Newly radically politicised men argued for working class women to be confined within the domestic sphere (Clark, 1995). Women's work was construed as immoral and the notion of a family wage was put forward. Restrictions on women's and children's hours of work were made in factory reform acts and in the Ten Hour Bill. In 1854 Barbara, famous for activist feminism nowadays, wrote her first nation-wide publication, 'A Brief Summary of the Most Important Laws concerning Women'. This document listed the legal disabilities and restrictions under which women lived. Barbara Bodichon had created 'a pamphlet very thin and insignificant looking, but destined to be the small end of the wedge which was to change the whole fabric of the law' (Englishwoman's Review, 1891, p. 149). It was widely read and discussed and provided an agenda for action. Many men said it would cause arguments between married couples; others said that the moves suggested would upset the "natural" balance of power between husbands and wives; some feared that women would become self-assertive, a fearful prospect for men. This aim for women's suffrage is a step towards the liberal democratic ideal of universal suffrage. When class and gender contrasts were relatively strong and seemed threatening, the state restored its legitimacy and sought to expand by focusing public attention on imperial and colonial gains.
The growth of the Nation State brought about a shift in power whereby the state's power was disaggerated into 'separate packages of interlocking but mutually limiting faculties of rule' (Poggi, 1992. p.135) entrusted to different organs. Political decisions were made through an independent governing body, and government powers and the beginnings of civil service were established with the new Metropolitan Police Force set up by Sir Robert Peel. The nation-state 'claims to protect [its citizens] from violence at the hands of each other' (Beetham, 1984). At first the Police Force was not very popular. People were very concerned that the new police should not be like the military and therefore great care was taken to ensure that police constables did not look like soldiers. However, it did not become compulsory for counties and boroughs to have police forces until 1856. The duties of the police were extended as more and more laws were passed. Further to internal pacification of power lords and the development of a professional civil service communications were too developed, especially concerning shipping goods for industrial production. In these ways the state is constituted to rule over society, whether on behalf of all or part of society. The state tended to increase its power by widening the scope of its activities, by extending the societal interests which rule is to oversee. The civil service and the state monopoly on law enforcement were introduced to the liberal democratic state as a product of the nation state's expansion.
The growth of democracy was concerned with the expansion of legal citizenship and the extension of franchise, both factors of a liberal democratic state. Chartism was a working class movement, which emerged in 1836 and was most active between 1838 and 1848. The aim of the Chartists was to gain political rights and influence for the working classes. Chartist pressed for a vote for all men over 21, the secret ballot, no property qualification to become an MP and annual elections for Parliament. The movement presented petitions to parliament three times and was rejected on each attempt. But although the Chartist movement ended without achieving its aims, the fear of civil unrest remained and many Chartist ideas were included in the Reform Acts of 1867 and 1884. The Chartist movement encouraged more universal suffrage and free elections, both essential to representative liberal democracy.
In this essay I have briefly discussed the social and economic conditions that gave rise to the emergence of a liberal democratic state in 19th century Britain, focussing particularly on the impact of industrialisation and the growth of the nation-state, political democracy and population. We can see that struggles in these areas against exclusions on the basis of class and gender introduced factors such as more universal suffrage, trade unionism, education and a civil service, key features of the development of liberal democracy. Although large advancements were made towards the emergence of liberal democracy some would argue that, in practise, it is neither liberal nor democratic. Marxists and socialists argue that liberal democracy is an integral part of the capitalist system which is class based and, therefore, not fully democratic. Because of this it is seen as fundamentally restricted, existing or operating in a way that facilitates economic exploitation.
358 words.
Bibliography
Beetham, David, 1984 - The Idea of the Modern State. Open University Press.
Bodichon, Barbara, 1891 - Englishwoman's Review of Social and Industrial Questions 1866 - 1910.
Clark, Anna. 1995 - The Struggle for the Breaches; Gender and the Making of the Working Class. Rivers c Oram Press.
Elkin, Stephen, 1985 - Between Liberalism and Capitalism; An Introduction to the Democratic State from T The Democratic State. Kansas University Press.
Levine, Andrew, 1944 - Liberal Democracy. A Critique of Its Theory. Columbia University Press.
Thompson, E. P, 1963 - The Making of the English Working Class. Penguin Books.
Poggi, G, 1992 - The Development of the Modern State - A Sociological Introduction. Stanford
University Press.
