The Rebels: How Blair Mislaid his MajorityNew LabourDirty Politics: New Labour, British Democracy and the Invasion of Iraq
The Rebels: How Blair Mislaid his MajorityNew LabourDirty Politics: New Labour, British Democracy and the Invasion of Iraq
复制标题
叛军：布莱尔如何失去多数席位新工党肮脏的政治：新工党、英国民主和入侵伊拉克
DOI：
10.1093/pa/gsn019
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发表时间：
2008
影响因子：
1.2
通讯作者：
Eric J. Shaw
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Eric J. Shaw
在他对英国对伊拉克政策的描述中，凯特尔将人们的注意力引向了“无处不在的党的纪律”。由于大多数议员都依赖于讨好他们所在的政党来获得职业发展，“结果是造就了大批议员，他们只不过是‘领导层手中温顺的游说素材’(凯特尔：17)。”考利略微扩大了一下：议会工党(PLP)充满了“温顺、顺从的职业政客”，“没有勇气和软弱……害怕追随自己的良知。被鼻子牵着鼻子投票给摆在他们面前的几乎所有东西。一群温顺的羊“(第1页)。他指出，这就是公认的智慧，评论员们经常炫耀，大多数媒体都毫不犹豫地接受了。作为对工党后座议员的描述，它有一个缺点：它完全是错误的。考利有一个他决心要讲述的故事--他以一种华丽而流畅的风格讲述了这个故事：认为工党议员是被欺负、哄骗和贿赂而屈服的软弱的花花公子的想法是完全没有根据的。考利承认，特别是在第一个任期内，公认的智慧是有一定道理的。在多年的反对党的打击下，工党后座议员确信，不团结有助于工党长期停留在荒野中，他们决心证明自己纪律严明、忠诚，最重要的是，忠于救世主。认为分裂的政党不仅疏远了公众的支持，而且
In his account of British policy on Iraq, Kettell draws attention to the ‘all-pervasive strictures of party discipline’. Since most MPs are reliant on currying favour with their party for career advancement,‘the result is to create mass ranks of MPs who are little more than docile lobbyfodder’in the hands of the leadership’(Kettell: 17). Cowley expands a little: the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is full of ‘tame, compliant career politicians’,‘gutless and feeble... terrified to follow their own consciences... led by the nose to vote for almost everything put before them... a flock of tame sheep’(p. 1). Such, he notes, is the received wisdom, trotted-out regularly by commentators, accepted without demur throughout most of the media. As a description of Labour backbenchers, it suffers from a single fault: it is entirely false. Cowley has a story that he is determined to tell—and he tells it with panache and in a fluent and exuberant style: the belief that Labour MPs are a spineless butch of toadies bullied, cajoled and bribed into submission is an entirely without foundation. And he has marshalled the evidence to substantiate his case.Cowley acknowledges that, particularly in the first term, there was some truth to the received wisdom. Battered by years in opposition, convinced that disunity had help consign Labour to its long sojourn in the wilderness, Labour backbenchers were determined to demonstrate they were disciplined, loyal and, above all, faithful to their saviour. The belief that divided parties not only alienate public support but