Issues of democratic principle and form were of major importance in the pre-1914 socialist, trade union and labor movements. This is the first detailed study of that debate, which centered around socialists of the British Radical tradition, the Fabians, and the Independent Labour Party leadership, and which reflects on the current argument over democratic structures and electoral reform. Democratic Ideas and the British Labour Movement assesses attitudes to democracy at a formative period in the history of socialist ideas and the British Labour movement.

Issues of democratic principle and form were of major importance in the pre-1914 socialist, trade union and labor movements. This is the first detailed study of that debate, which centered around socialists of the British Radical tradition, the Fabians, and the Independent Labour Party leadership, and which reflects on the current argument over democratic structures and electoral reform. Democratic Ideas and the British Labour Movement assesses attitudes to democracy at a formative period in the history of socialist ideas and the British Labour movement.