Government and ideology during the age of whig supremacy
The political argument of Sir Robert Walpole's newspaper propagandists
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8958906 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Simon Targett (University of Cambridge, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1994 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 289-317 |
| Publication date | 1994-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Historical Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-246X • E-ISSN: 1469-5103 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0018246x00016484 |
| OpenAlex | W2026966179 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 11 |
| References cited | 22 |
Contrary to received historical wisdom, Sir Robert Walpole, the pragmatist par excellence, was diverted by political ideas. Thus he invested time and an unprecedented amount of money in political newspapers. This article investigates the primary pro-government newspapers and, as well as identifying the leading circle of political writers sponsored by Walpole, addresses the varied and complex arguments that appeared in their ‘leading essay’ each week for twenty years. After identifying some common but misleading historical representations of Walpolean political thought, the article examines the treatment of three broad philosophical questions – human nature, the origin, nature and extent of government, and political morality – so demonstrating that Walpole's spokesmen were not narrowly pragmatic. Subsequently, the article focuses upon the careful pro-government response to the common charges that Walpole corrupted the political system and betrayed traditional whig values. In doing so, the article highlights the skills of some underrated eighteenth-century political writers and, more importantly, emphasizes the union of government and ideology in Walpolean political thinking
Argument (complex analysis · Excellence · Government (linguistics · Ideology · Morality · Newspaper · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Historical and Literary Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Political Theory and Influence
Scepticism, priestcraft, and toleration
Cameralism and the sciences of the state
Political languages of the French Revolution
Encyclopedias and the diffusion of knowledge
The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Political Thought
Social contract theory and its critics
The comparative study of regimes and societies
Patriots and the Country party tradition in the eighteenth century
Politics, Patriotism, and Gender
Frederick, Prince of Wales, and the First Performance of ‘Rule, Britannia!’
Lord Bolingbroke's Theory of Party and Opposition
The ideological origins of the American Revolution.
The Eighteenth-Century Commonwealthman
The Gothic Bequest
Virtue, Commerce, and History
The Soul of Modern Economic Man
Eighteenth Century Europe 1700–1789
A Preview of Hutcheson's Ethics
The Eighteenth–Century Debate on the Sovereignty of Parliament
Personalities and Powers
Politics in a Corrupt Society
Some Arguments Used by English Pamphleteers, 1697-1700, Concerning a Standing Army
Stability and Strife
Machiavelli, Harrington and English Political Ideologies in the Eighteenth Century
Revolution Principles
Virtue and Commerce in the Eighteenth Century
| Unique citing works | 11 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,55 |
| Citation span | 2006 - 2023 (18) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 11 |