Publics and Participation in the Three Kingdoms

Was There Such a Thing as “British Public Opinion” in the Seventeenth Century

Bibliographic Data

ID10067367
AuthorsTim Harris (0000-0003-0570-3883, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume56
Issue4
Pages731-753
Publication date2017-09-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of British Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-9371 • E-ISSN: 1545-6986
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/jbr.2017.121
OpenAlexW2758375429
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited91

This article explores where the people fit in to British history and whether there was such a thing as British public opinion in the seventeenth century. It argues that given the nature of the Stuart multiple monarchy, and the way the power structures of that monarchy impinged upon Ireland, Scotland, and England, the Stuarts' political authority was at times publicly negotiated on a Britannic level. People across Britain were engaged with British affairs: there was public opinion about British politics, in other words, albeit not British public opinion, since the people were bitterly divided at this time. However, because the crisis that brought down Charles I had been a three-kingdoms crisis, which in turn had helped spark the growth of a more sophisticated British news culture, the Restoration monarchy became increasingly sensitive to the need to try to keep public opinion across the Britannic archipelago on its side. In response to the challenge of the Whigs during the Exclusion Crisis, Charles II and his Tory allies sought to rally public support across England, Scotland, and Ireland and thus to represent “British public opinion” as being in favor of the hereditary succession. It was a representation, however, that remained contested

Kingdom · Monarchy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Public opinion · Publics · Representation (politics · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Historical Studies of British Isles · History · Law · Scottish History and National Identity

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