Party conferences are central to the life of political parties. They contribute to setting policy agendas, developing policy options, legitimizing policy choices, building party cohesion, motivating activists and publicizing party activities to the wider public. An analysis of their evolution in Britain helps us understand the ways in which political parties change. This book combines anthropological methods with political science to analyze changing power relationships, party organizations and political culture in British political parties: Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats, The...

The book provides a clear assessment of the New Labour public policies and their outcomes in Britain under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown from 1997-2009. Authors Florence Faucher-King and Patrick Le Gales argue that New Labour, in contrast to its European counterparts, developed a right-wing economic policy program based upon light financial regulation and strict macroeconomic management. Blair and Brown developed a large controlling bureaucracy, making Britain's government one of the most centralized in the world. While some progressive policies were implemented, Faucher-King...