Democratic Consolidation

Although England faced many of the pressures that proved to become catalysts for political instability and extremism in the rest of Europe (the First World War, trading collapse, trench warfare, etc.), the country set in place a set of institutions that could cope with the problems arising from this transition into the modern era. The combination of England’s history of political reformation, attentive political leadership and isolated political institutions allowed for robust democratic consolidation, which mitigated the adverse affects associated with political instability and extremism during the interwar years.
England has a strong history of reforming political institutions to both enfranchise and serve to empower the marginalized classes …show more content…
According to Linz and Stepan, Democratic consolidation requires political parties, one of whose primary tasks is precisely to aggregate and represent differences between democrats. Political actors during the late 19th century recognized the importance of integrating the working class to bolster support for not only the democratic system, but for political parties, as well. For example, Gladstone, a highly influential liberal political leader and Prime Minister, advocated for the “responsible” integration of the working class to curb radicalism and class antagonism. Other politicians of the time such as Disraeli, a conservative politician and prime minister, also recognized the need to integrate the working class in an age of mass politics. Disraeli therefore passed a number of reforms, such as safe food and drug acts, as well as other public measurers, in order to garner the political support of the lower classes. In addition, David Lloyd George, a liberal politician, believed that England would remain a stable democracy because it extended enfranchisement and redistributed wealth to the working classes. Through the creation of the “People’s Budget,” George sought to create a war budget designed to fight against poverty where the money would be raised by a progressive tax structure. The mentality of many of …show more content…
As discussed by Mitchell, due to the nature of England’s parliamentary democracy, political leaders in the United Kingdom were insulated from external pressure and better able to act in the welfare of the constituents. A party majority in the House of Commons allowed political leaders to distance governmental action and the exertion of external populist forces. Additionally, the clout of “intermediate groups was relatively weak and this allowed political elites to further autonomy” (Mitchel 452). During the interwar years, political power enhanced and became even further consolidated through institutional changes of the government, which allowed for the increased power of the executive over the legislature. In response to the nearing economic crisis in the interwar years, political leaders, such as MacDonald, were able to form coalitions, which served to unify and mobilize political leaders towards a common goal. MacDonald consulted the leaders in the House of Commons to form the National Government coalition. This coalition, although dominated by conservatives, remained in command for the duration of the interwar years. The ability for English political leaders to form coalitions and unify under the democratic regime during the interwar turmoil is testament to a democratic system that successfully mitigated political crisis by providing political leaders with efficient vehicles for

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