New Labour's grassroots : the transformation of the Labour Party membership / Patrick Seyd and Paul Whiteley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Seyd, Patrick.

Contributor:

Whiteley, Paul.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Labour Party (Great Britain).

Party affiliation--Great Britain.

Party affiliation.

Great Britain--Politics and government--1979-1997.

Great Britain.

Politics and government.

Great Britain--Politics and government--1997-2007.

Physical Description:

xxii, 206 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.

Summary:

Based on a unique series of surveys conducted during the 1990s, this book examines changes in the social backgrounds, attitudes, beliefs, and political activities of Labor party members. It addresses questions such as: What do Labor party members think of New Labor and its policies? How important are the members to the party? Are they becoming more or less active over time? Can the party dispense with its membership and still remain viable?

Contents:

Introduction: Party Transformation xv

1 The Blair Project: Setting the Context 1

Preparing for government: the Kinnock reforms, 1983-1992 4

Preparing for government: the Smith interregnum, 1992-1994 6

Preparing for government: the Blair reforms, 1994-1997 8

Political objectives and commitments 9

The Labour government, 1997-2001 13

Organizational reforms in the Labour Party 19

Attitudes to the Blair government 26

2 The Grassroots Members: Who Are They? 31

The recruitment and growth of the membership 31

A demographic profile of party members 34

'Old' and 'new' Labour Party members 40

Labour members and voters in 1997 44

3 The Grassroots: What Do They Believe? 49

The political attitudes of party members 50

Party strategy 59

Law and order 62

Post-materialism 65

Europe 69

Labour members, activists and voters 73

4 What Do They Do? 77

The contact dimension of activity 78

The campaigning dimension of activity 82

The representation dimension of activity 83

Donating money and party activity 85

Explaining the decline in activism 89

The general incentives model 89

The evidence for the general incentives theory 93

Changing incentives for activism 105

5 Activism and Campaigning in the New Labour Party 111

Debates about campaign effects in 1997 114

The evidence on local campaigns in 1997 117

Modelling the effects of campaigning on the vote in 1997 121

Simulating the influence of campaigning on the seats won 133

Appendix The Simulation Model 136

6 What Do the Members Think of the Party and the Government? 139

Members' images of the Labour Party, 1990 to 1999 140

Voters' images of the Labour Party, 1987 to 1997 148

Members' attitudes to the modernization strategy 150

Members' attitudes to their own role in the party organization 156

Members' perceptions of the performance of Labour in office 160

The key findings and their implications 168

Future models of party organization 170

The decline in Labour's core electoral support in 2001 177

Labour's future 181.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-198) and index.

ISBN:

0333777786

OCLC:

48691445