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The article discusses the political developments in Great Britain between the First and the Second World War. A general election held in England soon after the First World War came to an end, completed the disaster that was already besetting the Liberal Party. Lloyd George became Prime Minister and his cabinet was a mottled one. Its members showed traces of the scars inflicted upon the party during the struggle. The mixture of Tory, Conservative and Liberal-Unionist with the National Liberals and one or two members of the Labor Party seemed to change the character and composition of the House, as it had been known before August 1914. After nearly four years, the national government disappeared and Lloyd George retired from the ministerial scene. There was no one, then, of outstanding ability in any party who was fighting for a seat in Parliament. Indeed, one of the leading London papers spoke of the dearth of men available to put the country on its feet again. The pre-war parliamentarians were an aging lot, it was said, and little could be expected from them after their sore trials of fighting the war from the camp in Downing Street.

The article presents a brief account of notes on functional representation in the British House of Commons. The purpose of this paper is to consider two different but related hypotheses concerning functional representation in the House of Commons. Although private members usually represent party interests with considerable cohesion, a significant number also conspicuously represent various par- ticular interests; when this is true, their behavior during debate will reflect this type of representation as well as their party representation. A debate on the procedures of the House of Commons, which must of necessity consider the role of the private member, is in part a debate over theories of representation. It may be that the recent discussions of Commons procedures are, whether so intended or not, a reflection of some discontent with the present balance between collectivist views of representation and the concepts of functional representation. Certainly a consideration of the way in which institutional changes might alter the access of interest representation in Britain is necessary for a full understanding of these institutions themselves.

It is the purpose of this paper to discuss certain selected topics which illustrate how the tendency to approach the study of American institutions in terms of the British system has given rise to errors in judgment, to a mistaken emphasis, and to the distortion of facts. In the U.S. the investigating committee with its extensive hearings and its sifting of evidence has done much to correct shortcomings and failures in the administrative branch and has paved the way for the adoption of reform legislation. Although select committees were the most important instrumentality used in Great Britain for inquiry purposes in the nineteenth century, they have today almost completely ceased to be of any political importance. The tendency of the British Cabinet to treat "every serious criticism of the work of the Departments as an attack upon itself, to be resisted with the whole strength of its majority," has caused parliamentary discussions to become stereo-typed debates between opposing armies under rigid party discipline rather than informative and critical analyses of present-day conditions. The advantages of the English cabinet system over the American presidential system have frequently been pointed out. However, the major problem of government today is how to maintain an effective control over the administrative machine.

The House of Commons Estimates Committee report Manpower Training for Industry makes available, for the first time, a wealth of material concerning the objectives and workings of Government Training Centres (GTCs). Implicit throughout the report is the idea that this direct participation of the government in retraining results in substantial economic benefits to society. Yet although the current GTC expansion programme is justified mainly on economic grounds, no evaluative cost-benefit studies of GTCs have been carried out. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it outlines in Section I a framework within which the over-all economic benefits of GTCs may be appraised and discusses some of the methodological difficulties involved; second, it presents, in Section II, a preliminary cost-benefit calculation of these net benefits, based largely on data derived from the Estimates Committee report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally thought that the people of Great Britain are quiet people, decorous in their public manners and possessing a modest awareness of their achievements. Like principles of the British constitution, many of the values and motivations of Great Britain's life rise out of traditions and customs of the society rather than out of its conscious formulations. In the U.S., on the other hand, particularly in the last thirty years, there has been a tendency to sell values and motivations as if they were commodities essential to the national standard of living. The British General Election in 1945, produced two distinct public relations problems. For the Labor government, the problem was initially to educate in behalf of its innovative program and later to protect it against attack. For industry, the principal concern was to defeat the government proposals for nationalization of key industries. In this article, the author discusses how these related problems were met. He finds that the government's efforts were generally insufficient, belated and inept. Industrial public relations, on the other hand, were plentiful, effective and carefully patterned to prior American experience.

A queer incident is related by Lord John Reith in his autobiography. He tells how Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, then Prime Minister, wished to broadcast a New Year message to the people of the country, and asked if he might do so. Naturally, the content of the broadcast would have been highly political and Lord Reith hesitated to give the Prime Minister permission to broadcast. However, after discussion and the acceptance of certain conditions by Mr. MacDonald the broadcast was made. It is very likely that such an incident as this could not have been paralleled in any other country and it is clear that whatever considerations may have been in Lord Reith's mind-and there is no reason to doubt that they concerned the integrity of British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) and British Broadcasting generally-such a situation as is here revealed calls for very serious consideration. Certainly the Prime Minister in such a case as this must have his way. Any student of politics will agree that any other position than this would be intolerable and would result in BBC.'s becoming a state within a state. The fact is that the degree of independence granted to BBC by its Charter and License was given to enable it to function satisfactorily within its own proper sphere, which is broadcasting and not the government of the United Kingdom. Once this is clearly understood the game of make-believe in which BBC and successive governments have engaged in this field should come to an end. The moment any sufficiently serious issue arises in domestic politics or in the international sphere there can simply be no question that the will of the government must prevail.

The article discusses about the position of the Labour party in the foreign policy of Great Britain. It presents an overview of historical events where Great Britain has been a part of such as the Spanish Civil War and the second World War and explores on the positions held by the Labour party on these events, as well as in other issues that concerns international politics.

The article focuses on the nature of English politics. It cites that Englishmen have suffered diplomatic disasters because they have suddenly become apologetic about their power. It is argued that English politics might have regained the balance, which serves as a sure safeguard against aggression, if the Labor Opposition has been equal to its task of cooperative obstruction. Moreover, the author asserts that the anomalies of English political thought are focused on the aspect of unity.

The article presents information on the publication of the children's petition of 1669 and its sequel of 1699 in Great Britain. This booklet was not a petition in the formal sense, but was printed primarily for circulation among Members of Parliament, in the hope that one of them would attempt to introduce legislation on the subject with which it dealt. The petitioners describe themselves as the children of the land, and they deplore the fact that it is the custom to entrust to men who have no qualifications but a knowledge of Latin and Greek the liberty to use such a kind of discipline over them, as that the spring-time of humane life, which in all other creatures is left at the greatest freedom to be sweet and jocund, is defloured and consumed with bitterness and terror, to the drying up the very sap which should nourish their bodies, and those more lively spirits which should animate their minds in their future life, unto brave actions. A later publication provides evidence that the children's petition was brought to the attention of Parliament in a more formal manner than the internal evidence would lead us to suppose.

This article presents a study that analyzes the formative influences and attitudes to politics in Great Britain from 1886 to 1916. The study is based on the life histories of Cabinet Officers during the period 1886 to 1916. It approaches its subject through the documentary material which exists in biographies, autobiographies and memoirs. In the analysis of the social structure of Cabinet-Membership, three distinct socio-economic groups emerged, namely the aristocracy, the professional middle class and the Businessclass, which is the group of middle class entrepreneurs and rentiers in Commerce and Industry. This division was followed in the analysis and interpretation of the biographical material because it was found that the social origin of the men studied was an indication of influences which shape the political character of the individual. The presence or absence of such factors as Public School education, University life, dissent, political family tradition, economic independence, connection with popular movements or intellectual interests are unique features in the lives of members of these three groups and clearly influence their attitude to politics.

The article explores the relationship of Great Britain with Europe since 1945. It particularly looks at the involvement of Britain in the movement for European unity, driven by the needs of defense from the threat posed by the strengthening of the Soviet Union and the possibility of nuclear fission within the region itself. Given the country's weak communication link to the Continental group, the author believes that it will take more years before Britain join fully in the movement for unity.