Diehard Conservatism, Mass Democracy, and Indian Constitutional Reform, c.1918-35

This article explores the Conservative Party crisis over India to examine the relationship between diehard Conservatives and Britain's emerging democracy. Far from rejecting democracy outright, diehard rhetoric and mass communication demonstrates how they adapted to it and utilised it in pursui...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Parliamentary history 2013-06, Vol.32 (2), p.337-360
Main Author: Fleming, N.C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Baldwin
Churchill
Conservative Party
democracy
diehards
house of commons
India
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Summary:This article explores the Conservative Party crisis over India to examine the relationship between diehard Conservatives and Britain's emerging democracy. Far from rejecting democracy outright, diehard rhetoric and mass communication demonstrates how they adapted to it and utilised it in pursuit of their objectives. The accommodation of diehard Conservatism within the Conservative Party was a necessary and mutual embrace. Contrary to popular image, it promoted Conservative unity and contributed to the party's remarkable electoral success. Unable to exact decisive victories, the capacity of diehard Conservatives to generate party crises over imperial questions, among grass‐roots and back‐bench Conservatives, ensured that they had a role in shaping the presentation and content of party policy. This had implications for leadership efforts to liberalise the party, and also popular perceptions of British imperialism and the feasibility of democracy in India.
ISSN:0264-2824
1750-0206
DOI:10.1111/1750-0206.12019