Peter Jupp - The Governing of Britain, 1688-1848: The Executive, Parliament and the People

In this fascinating and compelling book, Peter Jupp examines how the scope and purpose of the government was radically reshaped during the eighteenth century, and shows how the power and influence of central government was fundamentally altered during a period of tumultuous change. In this groundbreaking study, Jupp throws fresh light on debates surrounding the long eighteenth century, providing the first analysis of its kind of the expanding role of the executive, the public sphere and popular politics.

The legacy of the English Revolution was fundamental to the shift that took place from monarchical to ministerial government from the seventeenth century onwards. The diminishing of royal power was accompanied by the growth of a civil service and, more importantly, by changes to the structure and activities of Parliament. During this period, Parliament met more frequently and for longer periods of time, resulting in an increase in the amount of legislation passed. There were more general elections crucially, more of these than ever before were contested elections. Moreover, political parties became established as fundamental to parliamentary and constitutional politics, and in turn, these changes encouraged the growth of new forms of political activity amongst the middle and lower classes. The era saw a dramatic increase in provincial clubs and societies, a proliferation of pressure groups and lobby interests and a growing body of publishers and writers commenting on parliamentary affairs.

Providing new insights into how Parliament became central to the process of governing and how it evolved as a crucial link between the landed elite and the rest of society, this analysis of government in Britain, spanning three centuries, is an essential guide to a formative era in political life.

Peter Jupp is Emeritus Professor of History at Queens University, Belfast. He is co-editor, with Eoin Magennis, of Crowds in Ireland, c.17201920 (2000), and author of British Politics on the Eve of Reform (1998).

The executive, Parliament and the people

First published 2006
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016

2006 Peter Jupp

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing form the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Jupp, Peter.
The governing of Britain, 16881848: the executive, Parliament, and the people / by Peter Jupp.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Great Britain Politics and government 18th century. 2. Great Britain Politics and government 19th century. 3. Great Britain. Parliament History 18th century. 4. Great Britain. Parliament History 19th century. 5. Monarchy Great Britain History 18th century. 6. Monarchy Great Britain History 19th century. I. Title.
DA480.J87 2006
320.4410903dc22 2005035653

The purpose of this book is to provide readers with an assessment of the changes that took place in the ways Britain was governed by the executive and Parliament during a period when, as it happens, her position as an international power was transformed. At the time of the Glorious Revolution, England stood, after France and the Hapsburg empire, in the second rank of European powers. By 1848, however, what had become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was unquestionably the worlds dominant territorial, commercial and industrial power.

Apart from curiosity, the reasons for attempting an assessment lie in the changes that have taken place in the research and teaching of British history. In the 1960s, executive (or central) government was a major topic of research in British history and the backbone of most university and school courses. Since then, however, the subject matter of research has broadened very considerably, not least in the political history of this period. Thus, although research on the conduct and policies of governments has continued, it has been put into the shade by the attention paid to other themes. These include, in the rough chronological order in which they have attracted historians, the social profile of MPs and the histories of parliamentary constituencies; the rise, fall and reconstitution of parliamentary parties; popular or non elite politics; the functional and ideological features of the development of the English/British state and the ideological and cultural (particularly the religious) contexts of political behaviour at all levels of society (particularly of the governing class). More recently, the processes leading to parliamentary legislation have also become a major research topic.