The Labour Party in Crisis Contributor(s): Whiteley, Paul (Author) |
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ISBN: 1138326526 ISBN-13: 9781138326521 Publisher: Routledge OUR PRICE: $18.95 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: May 2020 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Political Science | Political Process - Political Parties - History - Social Science |
Dewey: 324.241 |
Physical Information: 0.56" H x 6.14" W x 9.21" (0.84 lbs) 268 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: First published in 1983. This study draws upon empirical findings on party activists, members and voters. It examines the origins and nature of Labour's crisis in the 1980s, showing how the split leading to the formation of the SDP was merely a manifestation of deeply rooted problems which went back many years. It argues that this crisis had three distinct but interrelated aspects: first, the ideological schism within the party, which had grown in intensity over time; second, the electoral crisis, which produced the worst electoral performance at the 1983 general election since 1918; and, third, the membership crisis arising from the fact that the party had been losing more than 11,000 individual members per year on average since 1945. Using elite and mass surveys the book demonstrates the link between these crises and Labour's policy performance in office set against a background of rapid economic decline. |