Summary BPG - British Politics and Government since 1900 Finals Revision Notes (PPE Oxford)
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Course
BPG - British Politics And Government (202)
Institution
University Of Oxford
These are the comprehensive notes that I made and used to revise for my BPG (British Politics and Government since 1900) finals exam. I achieved a 79 in this exam and these notes were a critical resource. They are very extensive and include key definitions, reading summaries, content structured in ...
BPG since 1900 (202) Finals Notes
These notes are what I made and used to revise for my PPE finals exams at Oxford. They proved really
helpful and I ultimately came out with a high first (79) in the exam. This is a pretty hefty document so I’ve
gone through and tried to make it as easy to navigate as possible, however, I’m sure there will still be random
bits here and there. Also, my own takes/opinions/interpretations obviously frame how I’ve written my notes.
I hope it can be of use to others!
Contents:
[1] Social Class, Socialism, and the Rise of the Labour Party (2) pp2-65
[2] The Conservative Party in an Age of Mass Democracy (7) pp66-113
[3] Labour’s Victory in 1945 and the Attlee Government (10) pp114-160
[4] Immigration and Racism in Postwar Britain (13) pp161-185
[5] The Conservative Governments 1979-1997 (Thatcher/Major) (15b) pp186-241
[6] New Labour (16) pp243-324
Guide:
Although the way I have structured each topic varies slightly, each section usually contains the following:
• Scoping
• List of key readings
• List of past exam questions
• Key Definitions
• Summaries of Key Readings
• Thematic Content for Essays
• Skeleton Essay Plans
In general, once I was familiar with the readings, I found it most useful to use the content from the thematic
section to craft essay plans. I made flashcards on quizlet to learn author citations and key definitions.
(LoA means Line of Argument; D/C means define and confine)
,Kate Patrick BPG PPE Finals Page 2 of 324
[1] Social Class, Socialism, and the Rise of the Labour
Party (2)
Scoping:
(a) Describing the country at the time
(a) Key is regional and religious divisions being more important than class
(b) what explains the rise of the Labour Party? (Pre-1914)
(a) Various different factors (unions, socialists, liberals, leadership, women)
(b) Was this formation/rise inevitable?
(c) Was future growth inevitable?s
(c) Labour and socialism
-> how Labour’s relation to socialism changed over time - ideology pre and post 1918
-> strands of socialism
-> alliance between TU and socialists
(d) Sources of weakness - why did Labour fail to win a maj before 1945?
(e) Sources of strength - what drove growth up to 1945?
(i) role of the war
Key Authors:
(Brown, 1985)
Brown, K.D. (ed.) The First Labour Party 1906-1914 (Croom Helm, 1985), Introduction, chapters 1,
6, 8-10
(Pelling, 1954)
Henry Pelling The Origins of the Labour Party, 1954.
Ludlam, Steve, Steven Fielding, and John Callaghan. Interpreting the Labour Party: Approaches to
Labour politics and history. Manchester University Press, 2003. Chapters on Ralph Miliband (Ch.4), Henry
Pelling (Ch. 7) and Ross Mckibbin (Ch.8)
(Newman, 2003)
’Ralph Miliband and the Labour Party: from Parliamentary Socialism to ‘Bennism’
(Callaghan, 2003)
‘Ross McKibbin: class cultures, the trade unions and the Labour Party’
(Reid, 2003)
‘Class and politics in the work of Henry Pelling
(Fair, 2002)
Fair, John D. "Labour's Rise and the Liberal Demise: A Quantitative Perspective on the Great
Debate, 1906-1918." Albion (Boone) 34.1 (2002): 58-73. Web.
(MacDonald, 1905)
MacDonald, J. Ramsay. Socialism and Society (ILP, 1905), chapter 5 Online here
(Matthew et al., 1976)
Matthew, McKibbin, and Kay ‘The Franchise Factor in the Rise of the Labour Party’ (1976)
(Owen, 2007)
Owen, Nicholas‘MacDonald’s Parties’: The Labour Party and the ‘Aristocratic Embrace’, 1922 –
31’, TCBH 18:1 (2007), pp. 1–53 Online here
(Pugh, 2002)
,Kate Patrick BPG PPE Finals Page 3 of 324
Pugh, Martin‘The Rise of Labour and the Political Culture of Conservatism, 1890-1945’, History
87:288 (2002) Online here
(Pugh, 2002)
Pugh, Martin The Making of Modern British Politics 1867-1945 (3rd. ed. Blackwell, 2002)
(Sloane, 2020)
Sloane, Nan The women in the room: Labour’s forgotten history. IB Tauris, 2020.
Wrigley (2009)
Trade Unionists and the Labour Party in Britain: the bedrock of success
Bennett (1999)
A Most Extraordinary and Mysterious Business: The Zinoviev Letter of 1924
Key Questions:
1. (i) ‘The best explanation for the rise of the Labour Party is the desire of the working
class for a party of its own.’ Do you agree?
2. (ii) What part did socialism play in the growth of the Labour Party before 1924?
3. Why did the Labour Party fail to win a parliamentary majority before 1945?
4. Why did the Labour party take the form of an alliance of socialists and trade unionists?
5. Why did trade unions help to set up a Labour Party before the First World War?
6. What were the main sources of the Labour Party’s growth before 1924?
7. What did the Labour Party stand for before 1918?
8. How important were the World Wars in the growth of the Labour Party?
9. How stable was the ‘progressive alliance’ before 1914?
10. Did attachment to socialism help or hinder the Labour Party after 1918?
11. Why did the world wars help the growth of the Labour Party?
12. What did ‘socialism’ mean to the Labour Party before 1939? (2022)
13. Traditionalism, conservatism and class collaboration account for the failure of the
Labour Movement to form a viable political party before 1914. Do you agree?
14. How similar was Labour in 1924 to 1906? (Mine)
15. Was the early Labour Party a failure? (Mine)
16. Was the growth of the Labour Party inevitable? (Mine)
, Kate Patrick BPG PPE Finals Page 4 of 324
Key Definitions:
List of key themes:
[1] reasons for strength/growth - including was inevitable?
[2] assessment of whether was success/failure
[3] reasons for early failure
[4] role of socialism - what did it mean? help of hindrance?\
Class collaboration:
- often used pejoratively and associated with Fascism/Mussolini
- idea that classes should work together (collaborate) to sustain social hierarchy which
works in the interests of all classes - accepting the roles/duties your class affords to you
- communists in opposition to the idea - support class struggle toward a classless society
- often accuse w/c who are not fighting to overthrow the system
- ALTHOUGH some class alliance may be expedient \
conservsatism:
- small c
- conservative disposition - Oakeshott
- desire to render change safe, gradualism, keep the ship afloat, not challenge traditional
institutions\
Traditionalism:
- in this context I think could be interpreted as commitment to traditional
parliamentary methods of doing politics
- belief that traditions has high value (anything typical of the past, customer, institutions,
cultural identity)
- broadly includes religion, sport, diet habits, dialect,
- can be apolitical (live traditionally but progressive) or political (props entity to 'revivie or
defend traditions’ in the politic arena)\
‘Growth’ of the Labour Party:
1. Electorally - how many candidates fielded and seats won (PLP)
2. Membership/grassroots - size and reach across country
3. Local party organisations
4. Affiliated groups - TUs - think tanks
5. conference \
Alliance:
- an association formed for mutual benefit - between countries or between organisations
- work together toward common aims despite having opposing views/ interests in other
areas\
Progressive Alliance:
- cross party alliance in opposition to right-wing Conservative Party
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