The Conservatives since 1945: The Drivers of Party Change

What do we really mean when we say a political party has changed? And exactly what is it that drives that change? Political scientists working in the comparative tradition have come up with a general explanation that revolves around the role of election defeats and loss of office, and around changes of leader and factions. But how well does that explanation cope when subjected to a historically-grounded and therefore robust examination? This book tries to answer that question by subjecting the common wisdom to a real-world, over-time test using one of the world's oldest and most successful political parties as an in-depth case study. What do the periods spent in both opposition and government by the British Conservatives since 1945 tell us about what drives parties to change their sales-force, the way they organize, and the policies they come up with? Using internal papers, memos and minutes of meetings from party archives, along with historical and contemporary accounts, memoirs and interviews, this book maps the extent of change and then explores what may have driven it. The conventional wisdom, it turns out, is not necessarily wrong but incomplete, requiring both qualification and supplementation. This approachably-written book suggests when, how, and why. Along the way, it provides a fresh and comprehensive account of the Conservative Party that should appeal equally to those interested in political history and those interested in political science.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction 2: Disaster to Deliverance: 1945-1951 3: Anxiety, Appeasement, Affluence - and After: 1951-64 4: Amateur to Professional: 1964-1970 5: Betrayal: 1970-4 6: Confrontation and Consensus: 1974-1979 7: Messiah to Meltdown: 1979-1997 8: Conclusion Index

About the Author :
Tim Bale graduated from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge before going on to take a Masters degree at Northwestern University in the USA. He received his doctorate from Sheffield University. He joined the University of Sussex in 2003 after teaching at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He has published widely on party politics, particularly in Britain and Europe. He is the author of the prize-winning book, The Conservative Party from Thatcher to Cameron and has written for the Financial Times and the Guardian, as well as contributing to television and radio shows both in the UK and overseas.

Review :
`This is an erudite and highly enjoyable book, which, like Bale's previous work in the field, sets a new standard against which other scholars of Conservative politics will be judged.' Richard Hayton, Political Studies Review `The book is meticulously researched, clearly structured and underpinned by an explicit methodology that is sound. It contains a rich and nuanced narrative of Conservative Party change . . . Bale's book is a superb piece of scholarship that is destined to become a key reference on the Tories. It deserves to be so.' Jim Buller, Global Discourse Journal `. . . the book contains an impressive amount of research and analysis that scholars interested in post-war British politics and political parties will find indispensable.' Ryan Shaffer, The Journal of the Historical Association `Bale has written yet another seminal book on the contemporary Conservative Party. Meticulously researched, cogently argued and lucidly written, this is deservedly destined to be absolutely essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the internal dynamics of Britains oldest and most (electorally) successful political party' Peter Dorey, West European Politics `The Conservatives since 1945 is a rich, historical analysis which seeks to address pressing questions relevant to all parties today . . . The book thus constitutes an extremely valuable addition to the academic literature, opening the door to further avenues for discussion which would provide important practical lessons for politicians and parties, not just academics.' Jennifer Lees-Marshment, Party Politics `Bale operates in the terrain between history and politics, testing models drawn from political science against thickly descriptive historical examples. This refreshingly interdisciplinary approach has established him as one of the leading scholars of modern Conservatism, whose work can be read with profit by general readers and scholars from both disciplines.' Robert Saunders, Renewal `A book of the highest quality . . . significantly different from the existing books on twentieth or post-war Conservative history . . . Academics will find the book has considerable academic depth through its engagement with a diverse range of sources and approaches. However, the general reader who is interested in politics and parties, can engage with the analysis as it is jargon free. [The book] seeks to interest the reader by communicating in an accessible way. This is to be commended and many political scientists could learn from Bale and abandon their convoluted methodologies and tortuous prose that serve to alienate rather than educate. Above all else, this is a book that will be of tremendous value to students of the Conservative Party and British political history generally for many decades.' Dr Timothy Heppell, London School of Economics and Political Science `The Conservatives since 1945, examines the motors of change within the party at every level from the high politics of leadership and factional dominance to the minutiae of party organisation . . . The book is rich in surprises.' Colin Kidd, The London Review of Books `The British Conservative party is one of the most successful political parties in the world. This detailed monograph provides an illuminating analysis of its drivers of change during the period 1945-1997 . . . The author makes extensive use of primary archival sources as well as synthesising secondary material. The analysis is rigorous: most points are made with supporting evidence from a multiplicity of sources.' Democratization `[The Conservatives Since 1945] crosses disciplinary boundaries - testing the findings of political science against rigorous historical investigation remarkably comprehensive and persuasive [Bale] has the unusual gift of presenting a forensic analysis in compelling prose.' Mark Garnett, Times Higher Education `Bale is covering ground that is well-trodden, but even here he combines useful syntheses of existing analyses with new archival research, and careful judgements on a wide range of historiographical questions, which will make the book highly valuable for both reference and teaching.' Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite, English Historical Review `Bale does not propose a unifying model for party change; on the contrary, his account is consciously eclectic and multicausal. In this respect, it offers a valuable debunking of the extravagant claims made in more schematic studies' Robert Saunders, Renewal