Dismembering the Body Politic
Partisan Politics in England's Towns, 1650–1730

An account of the emergence of local partisan politics in the century after the English Civil War.

Paul D. Halliday (Author)

9780521526043, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 November 2003

416 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm, 0.8 kg

"This is an important book and should be studied by anyone interested in the impact of partisan politics on the body politic." Richard G. Bailey, Canadian Journal of History

This is a major survey of how towns were governed in late Stuart and early Hanoverian England. A new kind of politics emerged out of England's Civil War: partisan politics. This happened first in the corporations governing the towns, and not at Parliament as is usually argued. Based on an examination of the records of scores of corporations, this book explains how war unleashed a cycle of purge and counter-purge which continued for decades. It also explains how a society that feared a system of politics based on division found the means to absorb it peacefully. As conflict sharpened in communities everywhere, local competitors turned to the court of King's Bench to resolve their differences. In doing so, they prompted the court to develop a new body of law that protected local governments from the divisive impulses within them.

Preface
List of abbreviations
Part I. Corporate Ideal and Partisan Reality: 1. The paradox of partisan politics
2. 'The best of politics'
3. From purge to purge: Civil War, Interregnum, and Restoration in the corporations
4. Partisan politics, 1663–1682
Part II. The King and his Corporations, 1660–1688: 5. The corporations and their charters, 1660–1682
6. Quo warranto and the King's corporations, 1682–1685
7. Revolution in the corporations, 1685–1688
Part III. Partisan Conflict and the Law in a Dynamic Society: 8. The legacy of the 1680s
9. Partisan conflict and political stability, 1702–1727
10. 1660, 1688, 1727, and beyond
Select bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], British & Irish history [HBJD1]