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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/21749
Description
Title
Mill, Gladstone, and Liberal politics, 1865--1873
Author(s)
Kim, Ki Soon
Issue Date
1990
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Arnstein, Walter L.
Department of Study
History
Discipline
History
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
History, European
History, Modern
Political Science, General
Language
eng
Abstract
Though many writers have described Mill and Gladstone as the two giants of mid-Victorian Liberalism, there has been no attempt systematically to compare and contrast their approaches to Liberalism and thereby clarify various shades of Liberalism as represented in Liberal politics. Mill's later life was devoted more to political action than to political theory, and Mill proved himself a politician who demonstrated a considerable degree of Parliamentary tactics. As for Gladstone, his politics from the mid-1860s was definitely towards the realization of Liberal ideas and his first government of 1868-1874 was the most remarkable administration in the nineteenth century.
"Differed much from each other in terms of personality, they shared basic Liberal concepts, especially a notion that politics was not merely a power game or business but more a noble effort to realize moral goals. This pursuit of political morality or moral politics was the key concept that bound Mill and Gladstone in the Liberal party. As an argument against the ""high politics"" approach to the study of nineteenth-century British politics, this thesis was intended to describe how Liberalism as a moral force functioned for both Mill and Gladstone as an internal outlook in mid-Victorian politics."
"By focusing on several contemporary issues, such as the questions of democracy, labor and socialism, women's position, education, empire and Ireland, this study confirms that mid-Victorian politics was still a struggle between conflicting ideologies, in which the Victorian concept of morality was the dominating factor. It also confirms the radicalization of Mill's thought in the late 1860s and further shows that Mill was not only a Liberal theoretician but also a Liberal ""politician."" Similarly, Liberalism as an ideology was the driving force for Gladstone's reform measures, which were dominated by a notion of ""moralizing"" British society. The main difference between Mill's and Gladstone's Liberalisms was therefore not of ""kind"" but of ""degree,"" except for the women's question and education."
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