Modernising the Labour Party [electronic resource] : organisational change since 1983 / Thomas Quinn.

Modernising the Labour Party offers a detailed analysis of the internal reform of the Labour Party since 1983. It identifies two stages of reform that sought to make Labour electable: Neil Kinnock's battle against the left in the 1980s, and the conflict between modernisers and traditionalists o...

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Bibliographic Details
Online Access: Full Text (via Springer)
Main Author: Quinn, Thomas, 1972-
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
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Summary:Modernising the Labour Party offers a detailed analysis of the internal reform of the Labour Party since 1983. It identifies two stages of reform that sought to make Labour electable: Neil Kinnock's battle against the left in the 1980s, and the conflict between modernisers and traditionalists over the last decade. The book shows how organisational change in policy-making, parliamentary candidate selection, and the election of the party leader transformed Labour's power structure. Reforms such as one-member-one-vote emasculated the activist left and weakened Labour's institutional links with the trade unions. A unique feature of the book is its accessible rational choice account of party change. A 'political exchange' model is used to examine the changing relationship between Labour, its members and the unions. Two trends are evident: firstly a shift away from the exchange of union money for institutionalised influence in the party, in favour of exchange between party leaders and individual party members; and secondly a structure in which power is increasingly centralised. Thomas Quinn questions whether such unbalanced exchange can continue without causing membership decline and union disaffiliation.
Physical Description:1 online resource (xx, 227 pages) : illustrations.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-215) and index.
ISBN:9780230504912
0230504914
9781349518272
1349518271
Source of Description, Etc. Note:Print version record.