Roe‐Crines, Andrew S
(2022)
The Degenerative Tendencies of <scp>Long‐Serving</scp> Governments…1963…1996…2009…the Conservatives in 2022?
The Political Quarterly, 93 (2).
pp. 336-341.
|
Text
PQ Roe-Crines R&S 07_02_22.pdf - Author Accepted Manuscript Download (181kB) | Preview |
Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Is Boris Johnson's government suffering from the degenerative tendencies of long‐serving government as identified by Timothy Heppell? For his 2008 study, Heppell identified five symptoms of governing degeneration, namely: governing competence; leadership credibility; ideological division; abuses of power; and a renewed opposition/sense that it is time for a change. This approach was tested by Heppell on the longstanding Conservative administrations of 1951–64 and 1979–97, and the Labour administration between 1997 and (at the time of original publication) 2008. Thus, my hypothesis asks whether the similarly long‐serving Conservative government from 2010 to‐date might be exhibiting signs of similar governing degeneration on each of Heppell's criteria. I ask whether the Conservatives under Boris Johnson appear to lack the clear direction of travel and purpose that characterised the final period of the Macmillan/Home, Major, and Brown premierships. Whilst it is by no means the aim of this article to produce an electoral prediction, there is evidence to suggest the current Conservative administration has met the level of governing degeneration that affected the last years of the longstanding administrations evaluated by Heppell.</jats:p>
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Conservative Party, Boris Johnson, Labour Party, Keir Starmer, Governance, Leadership, Economy, Brexit, Covid-19, Timothy Heppell |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Feb 2022 16:30 |
| Last Modified: | 10 Aug 2023 16:06 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/1467-923x.13108 |
| Open Access URL: | https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.13108 |
| Related URLs: | |
| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3148509 |
Dimensions
Dimensions
