Page 128 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

parliamentarianism 1429

of enacting and implementing legislation. This change work. It deprived them of adequate access to decision-
positioned parliamentarianism at the center of democratic making that concerned their daily lives.This pattern was
life and bureaucratic transparency (bureaucrats and their epitomized in the slogan “no taxation without represen-
acts were subject to Parliament’s consistent review and tation” adopted by Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790),
assessment) in the United Kingdom. who was well acquainted with the British, having lived
The absolute control of the British government was al- in London. He led the movement that also vigorously
ternately held by the Liberals (Whigs) or the Conserva- opposed the “virtual representation” system, which allowed
tives (Tories), rather than by a third party or a wide co- well-connected politicians access to legislative power
alition, even during prolonged wars. Dominant prime although they did not have any constituencies (represent-
ministers included the Conservative Benjamin Disraeli ing “corrupt boroughs”), then prevalent in Britain. Fur-
(1804–1881) and the Liberal William E. Gladstone thermore, the subsequent U.S. system of a balance of
(1809–1898), who alternated in power during the sec- powers (“checks and balances”) among the three branches
ond half of the nineteenth century. of government—executive, legislative, and judiciary—
and the relative independence of the presidency from
Impact Congress, as drawn up in a written constitution, were,
While practically guaranteeing an unbreakable sequence in part, responses to the perceived excesses and short-
of stable administrations and an orderly transfer of polit- comings of parliamentarianism.
ical power, there were severe consequences to this exclu-
sive scheme. Civil service positions, especially those of Irish Exclusion
permanent undersecretaries, became very influential as it Ostensibly, Irish Catholics, British subjects until the
was the people who held these positions continuously 1920s, had power equal to that of other voters. In real-
who ran governmental departments.These position hold- ity, however, they were misrepresented by the politics of
ers came from the ranks of prominent families and elite the British system, including the property requirements
schools. They largely represented the interests of the that limited suffrage. Their distinct ethnic and religious
upper classes, which were naturally disposed to inhibit- interests, moreover, were either left to sectarian parties
ing reforms or repudiating radical alternatives. Prime that did not have realistic chances of reaching power
ministers could, and sometimes did (especially around nationally or were subsumed by parties whose main con-
the middle of their terms), shuffle portfolios among dif- stituents were English and Irish Protestants.This lack of
ferent officials, even within the same cabinet, decreasing representation was one of the major reasons for the
the tenure of ministers in the same position. As a result, demand for Irish home rule in the nineteenth century,
long-term bureaucrats often decided policy issues, not subsequently leading to independence after World War I.
merely implemented them. Furthermore, this conserva-
tive hierarchy was considerably less sensitive to sectarian Decline of
interests, the advancement of economic reforms and Parliamentarianism
social mobility, and the well-being of colonial commu- The impact of the Industrial Revolution in Britain
nities, or else subordinated these concerns to the con- changed the internal political structure, beginning in the
cerns of major factions and large corporations based in mid-nineteenth century. In the early 1900s the Victorian
the British Isles. age passed with Queen Victoria, who was succeeded by
mediocre, much less omnipresent monarchs. The con-
American Dissent comitant rise of trade unions and the Labor Party repre-
Settlers in North American colonies during the 1760s senting the wider franchise of the working classes and
and 1770s increasingly militated against this rigid frame- non-English elements (such as the Scots) within Britain