Causes, characteristics and significance of the emergence and development of British party politics

Party politics originated in Britain. As a hot field in the study of political history, domestic academic circles have published many works on the study of British party politics. However, most of these works focus on the development of party politics in modern Britain after the parliamentary reform in 1832, that is, after the formation of the liberal party and the conservative party, and lack sufficient attention to the party politics in early modern times. The reason is nothing more than that the party politics here is mixed with issues such as kingship, religion and succession to the throne, and the main line of its development is difficult to sort out. In fact, modern British party politics and early modern party politics are in the same strain. The origin of the two parties and the rise of early party politics had a far-reaching impact on the theory and practice of party politics in Britain later. Therefore, investigating the origin of British party politics and clarifying the basic characteristics of early party politics will help us to deeply grasp the development vein of modern British party politics and the basic trend of British political development.

The birth of the Tories and Whigs

The main body of party politics is political parties, without which party politics cannot be discussed. From the origin, the predecessor of a political party is generally a political faction or a political group, and the early political parties all evolved from factions or groups. So, what is the fundamental difference between political parties and traditional political factions or groups? This involves the concept of political parties.

There are different opinions on the concept of political party in academic circles. Edmund burke said: "A political party is a group organized by some people on the basis of some agreed principles, and uses their * * * to promote national interests." Leon Epstein pointed out: "Political parties are loosely organized organizations that seek to elect government officials with a specific label (party name)." (3) D 'Urberson Giovanni sartori's point of view is: "Political parties are officially recognized political groups that propose candidates in elections and can put candidates in public positions through elections." ④ The definition of political parties by western scholars refers to some elements of political parties. In my opinion, among the many elements that constitute a political party, three are the most fundamental: a relatively unified political program that all members believe in; A relatively stable and lasting organization and its leaders; The goal of seizing power by winning a majority in legislative elections. These three conditions are important signs that modern political parties are different from traditional political factions or groups.

The origin of the two parties in Britain can be traced back to the two major political factions on the eve of the revolution-"Knight Party" and "Round Crane Party". In order to raise military funds to suppress the Scottish uprising, in June of 1640 1 1, the autocratic monarch Charles I had to convene a parliament that had been suspended for 1 1, and this parliament lasted until 1660, which was called "long-term parliament" in history. There are two opposing factions in the parliament: the one who supports the king is called the "Knight Party", mostly big noble, which is favored by the royal family and is a firm believer in the state religion; The faction opposed to the king is called "Round Cranial Party", which is mainly composed of new noble, squires and businessmen, and most of them are non-Christians. According to a survey by Ayffre Jennings, among the 552 members of the lower house of parliament at that time, 236 were royalists, accounting for 43% of the total number of members; There are 302 people belonging to the opposition, accounting for 55%, and only 14 members hold a middle position. After the revolution broke out, the royalist knights joined the king's camp, while the round cranes, as the opposition, became representatives of the parliament. Some historians believe that "the cranes and knights at this time are actually just Whigs and Tories in infancy". But I think this is a bit exaggerated, because the two factions at that time did not have several elements that political parties should have. Nevertheless, the struggle between the crane and the knight can still be regarded as a prelude to the struggle between Whigs and Tories during the Restoration.

With the restoration of the Stuart dynasty in 1660, charles ii held a new parliament in the following year, which was called "Knight Parliament" in history, and two major political parties-"Palace Party" and "National Party" began to take shape. The division within the Knights' Parliament is obvious. The Court Party is the leading party in the parliament and the government, led successively by Earl Clarendon and Earl Danby. Its social foundation is the land nobles who believe in the state religion, most of whom are members who hold government positions or accept royal salaries and titles, as well as court officials and people who keep close contact with the royal family. The Palace Party has been closely linked with the fate of the royal family since its birth. Therefore, he advocated the supremacy of the king and agreed with charles ii's pro-French policy. The Palace Party opposed religious tolerance and tried to establish "the state religion as the only dominant religion in the British government, leaving all other non-state religious sects in a position of exclusion and persecution". The Palace Party has held the parliament and the government for a long time, and the members of the opposition who have been excluded or suppressed have gradually United. The opposition is mainly composed of upstarts, local gentry, businessmen and professionals, representing the interests of non-Christians. The opposition expressed dissatisfaction with the palace party's dependence on the royal family to support the long-term monopoly regime. They urged limiting the royal power, expanding the sovereignty of parliament, striving for religious tolerance and improving the social status of non-Christians. 1673, Earl shaftesbury, who was dismissed from his post as Chief Justice for making anti-King remarks, angrily joined the opposition camp and was acclaimed as a political leader. From 1673 to 1674, the opposition began to evolve into a rural party and became active in politics. ⑧ From the late 1970s of 17, the internal cohesion of the rural party grew rapidly, from a loose political alliance to a political force that can compete with the palace party in quantity, organization and leadership.

The palace party and the country party, which are active in British politics here, have initially possessed some characteristics of political parties, such as having the same leader, political platform and political participation goals. However, the boundaries between the two parties are blurred, and the characteristics of the parties are still not obvious in the competition for seats, which shows that the Palace Party and the National Party are still only traditional political factions, not political parties in the modern sense. However, at the turn of 1970s and 1980s from 65438 to 2007, a so-called "Catholic conspiracy" and its "exclusion crisis" directly contributed to the birth of Whigs and Tories, two major political parties in modern Britain.

1678, Father Titus Oates fabricated a shocking "Catholic conspiracy case", claiming that a group of Catholics plotted to assassinate King charles ii, prepared to support charles ii's brother James, the Catholic Duke of York, as king with French support, and resumed Catholicism in Britain and slaughtered Protestants. Pet-name ruby shaftesbury and the rural party under his leadership greatly exaggerated this incident and incited people's dissatisfaction. In parliament, rural party members impeached Danby, the first minister who pursued the pro-French policy and the leader of the palace party, and urged the king to join the anti-French war launched by continental European countries. In order to avoid political crisis, charles ii was forced to dissolve the Knights' Parliament in March 1679. However, in the new parliament formed in April, the rural party still won an absolute majority, and proposed an exclusion bill in parliament, demanding that James, a Catholic, be deprived of the right to inherit the throne, which triggered an "exclusion crisis." Participating in the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Parliament was openly divided into two factions: the one headed by shaftesbury adhered to the principle of religious reform, opposed Catholics to inherit the British throne, and tried to deprive James of the right to inherit the throne; The school headed by Danby insisted on the hereditary principle of the throne and demanded that James' right to inherit the throne be preserved. Soon, the two factions each got a nickname from their political opponents-the supporters of the bill were called Whig, which originated from Scottish Gaelic and originally meant horse thief. During the revolutionary period, some people regarded it as contempt for the Presbyterian church. Opponents of the bill are called "Tories" by political opponents. The word "Tory" comes from Irish, which means outlaw. These two words (1 1) spread day after day, and the original meaning was gradually forgotten. Both parties accepted this nickname as the official name, and the Whigs and Tories, the two major political parties in modern Britain, were born.

It can be seen from the Whig Party and Tory Party that appeared in modern times that they actually originated from the traditional political factions or groups in the British Parliament in the middle and late17th century: Whig Party is actually a rural party led by shaftesbury, and its origin can be traced back to the Round Skull Party around the Great Revolution; The Tories are actually the court party led by Danby, and its origin can be traced back to the Knights Party before and after the Great Revolution. Although there is still a gap between the two parties and the political parties in the modern sense at this time, the basic characteristics of the political parties have basically been possessed: they all put forward clear political programs, and the attitude opposition in the Chinese Exclusion Act is an obvious manifestation; They have established a stable and lasting political organization and formed a fixed leadership core; They all try to make or influence government decisions by controlling parliament. These three characteristics show that Whigs and Tories have surpassed traditional political factions and realized the transformation from traditional political groups to modern political parties.

Theoretically, party politics appeared after the emergence of political parties, but this is not the case. This is because in the ten years after the birth of political parties, that is, from 1679 to 1689, Britain was still in the period of absolute monarchy, and the kingship remained supreme and became the center of political power. Although the activities of political parties are becoming more and more active, the parliament, as a space for political activities of the two parties, has not yet become a permanent institution, let alone compete with the royal power. From the solution of the "exclusion crisis", it is not difficult to see that the monarchy is popular. When there was sharp opposition between the two parties in Parliament, charles ii publicly expressed his support for James's right to inherit the throne, thus the kingship formed an alliance with the Tories. In order to prevent the Chinese Exclusion Act from becoming law, the king not only used the veto power, but also dissolved the Whig-led parliament three times in 1679 ~ 168 1 year. The king even went to 168 1688 when he found out that the Whigs had been controlling the parliament. From this point of view, the existence of parliament depends entirely on the king, so parliament cannot be a force to compete with the royal power. With the support of the Tories, the king openly practiced autocratic rule without parliament and severely cracked down on Whigs who opposed the kingship. Shaftesbury fled abroad and died in another country. The Whig Party began to disintegrate under pressure, and "the King and the Tories won a great victory" (12). At the beginning of the Whig Party's birth, it suddenly changed from a parliamentary majority to an opposition party insulated from politics. The key lies in the intervention of powerful kingship, which can directly determine the future and destiny of the party. From this point of view, under the autocratic monarchy, party politics is impossible.

1685, James succeeded to the throne, known as James II in history, and continued to pursue autocratic rule with the support of the Tories. Although parliament was restored, it became a vassal of the monarchy. Soon, James began to openly restore Catholicism and let Catholics work in the core government institutions, which made the Tories who had always supported the monarchy unbearable. Although Tories adhere to the orthodox principle of succession to the throne, they also adhere to the principle of the supremacy of the state religion, and do not want to see Catholicism replace the supremacy of the state religion. The whole Protestant camp was United on the basis of opposing the restoration of Catholicism. 1688, the two parties jointly launched the "glorious revolution". James was ousted and fled to France. James's son-in-law and daughter, namely William and Mary, who were in power in the Netherlands, were both acclaimed as kings. In order to avoid the revival of absolute monarchy, Parliament passed the Bill of Rights on 1689, which marked the establishment of constitutional monarchy. (13) Since the revolution, the struggle between kingship and parliament has come to an end, the sovereign status of parliament has been guaranteed by law, and party politics with parliament as its activity space has also emerged.

Two. Parliamentary sovereignty and party government

The so-called party politics, "in a broad sense, refers to the political phenomenon that political parties hold or participate in state power and are in a central position in the political and social life of the country, state affairs and the operation of its system" (14). In essence, party politics belongs to democratic politics and is a manifestation of representative democracy. Party politics is relative to monarchy politics. Monarchical politics relies on the relationship between monarch and minister to control state power, while party politics downplays this relationship. Political groups based on the convergence of interests and ideas control the state power institutions.

Historically, the rise of party politics is the product of the decline of monarchy. In other words, party politics gradually rose with the decline of kingship. As far as Britain is concerned, the Bill of Rights of 1689 is an important symbol of the transition from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy, and it is also the beginning of the decline of kingship and the rise of party politics. However, the decline of the monarchy and the rise of party politics did not happen overnight, but went through a relatively long process. The author thinks that British party politics rose in the period of 1689 ~ 17 14, that is, during the reign of William III and Queen Anne. 1689 The promulgation of the Bill of Rights is the beginning of the decline of kingship and the establishment of the sovereign status of parliament. Hanover House in Germany entered the UK in 17 14. Subjective and objective factors led to the rapid decline of kingship, which made the development of party politics enter a new stage.

The 25 years from 1689 to 17 14 are the stage of the rise or origin of British party politics. The development of British politics in this period followed two main lines: one was the power struggle between the monarchy and parliament, and the monarchy gradually declined and the power of parliament rose, which was the premise for political parties to play a role in political life; Another main thread is the rise of party government, that is, the king used to rely on the royal family's favor and private advisers to rule, but now he relies on the political parties in parliament, especially the government composed of the majority parties, and political parties gradually play an important role in the operation of state power.

After the promulgation of the Bill of Rights, the king did not become a unified and dead "virtual monarch". The early constitutional monarchy was a political system in which the king and parliament enjoyed power, and the bill did not clearly stipulate the specific distribution of power. In fact, at this time, the king is still in power. The bill stipulates that the king must convene parliament regularly, but the bill does not make detailed provisions, not to mention that the king still has the power to convene and dissolve parliament at will; The king also has the power to formulate domestic and foreign policies, to appoint and remove ministers and officials, especially to appoint officials, which to a great extent enables the king to control the parliament. (15) In this way, in the more than 20 years after William entered Britain, the power struggle between the king and parliament was very fierce. As the core force in the parliament, the new two parties actively participated in the struggle to weaken the royal power.

During the 25 years of William and Anne's rule, Britain was involved in the augsburg League War and the Spanish succession war on the European continent, which had an important influence on British constitutionalism. The maintenance of the war requires huge financial expenditure, and the king can only levy taxes and recruit soldiers with the authorization of the parliament. As early as March 1689, Parliament passed an appropriation bill, granting the king an annual tax of120,000 pounds, of which 600,000 pounds was used for court and non-military expenses, and the rest was used for naval and army expenses. (16) Since then, the parliament has firmly held the financial power in its own hands through various means. By Queen Anne's time, Britain had formed such a practice, and the Ministry of Finance had to draw up a budget every year and submit it to Parliament for discussion and approval. (17) In this way, the parliament gradually grasped the financial power and used it as an important weight in the struggle against the royal power, thus strengthening its sovereign position.

In order to weaken the king's military strength, the parliament passed the mutiny bill in 1689, which stipulated: "In order to ensure national security and defend the Protestant faith, when the country is in danger, the king can call an army under the authorization of the parliament, but this army can only last for one year." (18) It can be seen that although the king can still command the army, it is greatly restricted by the parliament: the maintenance of the army must be confirmed by the parliament every year, which not only "means that the parliament will be held every year" (19), but also means that the military power that the king independently enjoys and exercises is restricted by the parliament.

In order to prevent the situation of "no parliament" or "long parliament" in the early Stuart dynasty, 1694, the parliament passed a three-year bill under the threat of war funds. Since then, the parliament has been convened at least once every three years, and the term of office of each parliament has not exceeded three years. (20) This means that parliament has become a permanent institution, and the era of long-term parliament or no parliament has ended, which provides a prerequisite for the birth of a political party government from parliament.

The great victory of parliament in the struggle against kingship was the reconciliation bill of 170 1. The bill stipulates that after Anne's death, the British throne will be passed on to Princess Sophia and her descendants in Hanover, Germany. The bill itself shows that it is an extension of parliamentary sovereignty to decide the heir to the throne through parliamentary discussion, which is actually a reaffirmation of the principle established by the glorious revolution, that is, the royal power is below the parliament. Moreover, the bill also imposes special restrictions on the royal power: (1) Although the appointment and removal of judges belong to the king, they must be approved by both houses of parliament, which actually weakens the judicial control of the king. (2) All matters related to the British Government should be handled in the Privy Council, and all resolutions need to be signed by the proposer and the assent in the Privy Council. This clause actually deprived the king of the power to make decisions alone as the head of government.

After the glorious revolution, it is not uncommon for the king to use the power of appointment and removal of officials to control the parliament. In order to exclude the royal family from the parliament, the parliament passed the "Local Act" in 1707, which stipulates: "Anyone who has recently obtained an official position or received a salary from the royal family shall not be elected as a member of parliament and enter the lower house of parliament ... Anyone who is elected as a member of the lower house and accepts the position of king during his term of office will be declared invalid." (2 1) In this way, the king can no longer control parliament by rewarding officials and conferring knighthood, and the bill is regarded as "a great success in limiting the growth of royal influence in the lower house" (22).

By the beginning of18th century, with the promulgation of a series of bills, the king's power in administration, legislation, justice and military affairs was gradually weakened or even lost. As a sword in the king's hand, the veto power is actually lost. William used the veto as the final weight against parliament and exercised it five times in his life. Anne exercised her veto power only in 1707, thus becoming the last monarch in British history to exercise her veto power. Since then, the king still enjoys the veto power in law, but without the king exercising it again, the king's veto power has actually been lost. (23) In this way, it becomes a symbol for the king to sign the bill passed by Parliament, which is an important symbol to establish the sovereign status of Parliament. Generally speaking, the decline of kingship and the establishment of parliamentary sovereignty make it possible for political parties to take charge of state power by winning parliamentary elections, and the formation of party government marks that the possibility has become a reality.

The formation of party government is an important manifestation of the rise of party politics, which means the realization of the party's ruling goal and the inevitable result of the decline of kingship. After the glorious revolution, the monarch, as the head of state and government, still retains some political privileges and excludes political parties from getting involved in state power. William tried his best to concentrate his power in his own hands, applied the power that was not deprived by law to the extreme, and resolutely resisted the attacks of various forces on these powers. (24) Although Anne is not as autocratic as William, she doesn't want to rely too much on which political party to rule, that is, she doesn't want to be a puppet of the political party government. However, with the passage of a series of bills restricting the royal power, the two monarchs had to face up to the reality of the decline of the royal power and the promotion of the parliamentary status, and had to rely on the power of political parties to rule.

During William's reign, he tried to form a mixed government with Whigs and Tories to strengthen the monarch's power in the power struggle between the two parties. The mixed government can exist, on the one hand, because although the parliament is gradually controlled by the two major parties, it is difficult for any political party to guarantee an absolute majority; On the other hand, the appointment of government officials by the king is often based on personal likes and dislikes, rather than the results of parliamentary elections in a strict sense. At the beginning of his succession, William reorganized the government of James II, including not only Whigs and Tories, but also royal officials who did not belong to any political party. Due to the complex sources of members and fierce debates on policy making, the final decision-making power often falls into William's own hands. From 1690 to 1694, William wooed moderates from both parties and formed a mixed government dominated by Tories. However, this government not only failed to solve the financial crisis caused by the foreign war, but also constantly proposed the "office bill" to limit the royal power, which caused William's great dissatisfaction. During 1694 ~ 1697, William dismissed the Tories who opposed the war and established a one-party government composed of the Whig Party "Junto". In order to solve the financial crisis caused by the war, the government announced the establishment of the Bank of England and the establishment of the national debt system. This completely solved William's worries about launching a war, and the situation on the European battlefield changed quickly. After the 1697 war, William reorganized the government, dismissed some radical Whigs, wooed some Tories and re-established a mixed government. The Tories led by Godolphin were in a dominant position in the government until William died in 1702.

Queen Anne is a staunch nationalist and emotionally close to the Conservative Party. Therefore, the first government formed in 1702 ~ 1706 was a mixed government led by Godolphin and dominated by Tories. After the parliamentary election of 1705, the Whig Party won a majority of seats in the parliament, and Anne was forced to reorganize the government. During the period of 1705 ~ 17 10, the control of the mixed government was gradually transferred from the Tories to the Whigs. The government pushed the war policy to the extreme. 1709 After the French proposed peace, the Whigs still refused to give up the war, claiming that "as long as the forces of the Bourbon dynasty were not driven out of Spain, there would be no peace" (25), which caused the people and Anne's boredom and dissatisfaction. From 17 10, Anne successively dismissed Whigs who refused to stop fighting in the government and established a Conservative one-party government. During the period of1710 ~1714, the Tory government quickly signed an armistice treaty with France, and Britain ushered in a rare peace situation. (26) At this time, the Conservative government dominated by one party was deeply divided. In particular, the "October School" headed by Pauline Brock, because of planning and participating in James's restoration plot, caused dissatisfaction among the people and the Hanover royal family. In this way, Queen Anne 17 14 died, and after George I ascended the British throne, the Tories were in opposition for a long time, and the Whigs made a comeback, establishing the "Whig Party Advantage" for nearly half a century.

Generally speaking, during the 25 years of William and Anne's rule, the party government has been initially established. Although the royal family is favored, and the king's personal advisers and independents also enter the cabinet, the number of its members is getting smaller and smaller, and the political leaders of the two parties occupy an absolute majority, which means that the political parties have begun to realize control over the government. Although the king, as the head of government, still enjoys the executive power, he can't do whatever he wants like the autocratic monarch before 1689, but he should fully consider the attitudes and opinions of the members of all political parties in the cabinet. Under normal circumstances, the king's decision must be consistent with the majority opinion in the cabinet, otherwise it will easily lead to a political crisis, which provides a guarantee for political parties to play an important role in the government. But at the end of the Stuart dynasty, the party, government and army were still in the primary stage, and the power of the monarch was still great, especially in diplomacy. 1698, William signed an anti-French alliance treaty with other governments on behalf of Britain, but it was not until 1700 that the parliament and the government knew such a big thing. Although the parliament expressed dissatisfaction, William took it calmly and thought that this action did not obviously exceed his privilege. This also shows from the side that the early party government can no longer exercise power instead of the king, and can only share power with the king at best.

In the composition of the government, the personal inclination of the monarch sometimes plays a great role. Although during the reign of William and Anne, the mixed government of the two parties and the one-party government alternated constantly, on the whole, William preferred the Whig Party because it supported William's war policy. Anne leans towards the Conservative Party because they advocate the supremacy of the state religion. For most of these 25 years, the party government was a mixed government composed of two political parties. However, during the period of 1694 ~ 1697, William III established the Whig one-party government to maintain the foreign war; During1710 ~1714, in order to end the war as soon as possible, Queen Anne established a conservative one-party government, which was in sharp contrast with the two one-party governments. However, the one-party government at this time is still not the later responsible cabinet, because it is not the direct result of parliamentary elections (27), but the result of the monarch's adjustment of government composition according to the situation, which also shows that it is difficult for the early one-party government to completely get rid of the control of the monarch.

Three Basic Features of Party Politics

1689 ~ 17 14 is the origin stage of British party politics. At this stage, monarchy politics gradually faded and party politics rose day by day. In the transition from monarchy to party politics, the ambiguity and complexity of British party politics are sometimes reflected: although the monarchy is declining, the rest still exists; Although party politics has risen, it is limited by kingship. Specifically, party politics has the following characteristics:

First of all, most of the seats in parliament are controlled by Whigs and Tories, and the political division between the two parties is obvious, and the political struggle for participating in politics and governing is becoming increasingly fierce. During the reign of William and Anne, Whigs and Tories became more and more active in the lower house of parliament. Although some independent members of the lower house of parliament are separated from the two parties, Whigs and Tories account for the vast majority of the parliament, and the boundaries between the two parties are obvious. Some scholars have analyzed the composition of parliament in Queen Anne's time: the lower house of parliament produced 1 250 members, of which 1 56 members were not registered for various reasons. Of the 65,438+0,064 registered members, 495 always sided with the Tories and 439 always sided with the Whigs, with only 65,438. Correspondingly, the nobles in the upper house also showed partisanship: among the 182 secular nobles registered in this period, only 4 1 nobles crossed the party line and maintained their independence. From this point of view, the separation between political parties is obvious. As Plum pointed out, "the split between Whigs and Tories constitutes one of the basic historical facts in political history ... For politicians here, the difference between Whigs and Tories is as obvious as day and night" (29).

On the premise of holding a parliament, the opposition between the two parties on major political issues is becoming increasingly obvious, which is mainly manifested in the following aspects: First, the opposition on non-Christians' positions and policies. The Conservative Party advocates strengthening the status of the state religion and strictly restricting the rights of non-state believers. During the Conservative Party's administration, a series of religious bills were passed to crack down on non-state believers, which actually weakened the Whig Party's mass base. As a staunch defender of the interests of non-Christians, Whigs advocated "religious tolerance" for all Protestants, and even advocated that Britain accept persecuted Protestants from other countries. Second, there are differences in attitudes on the issue of succession to the throne. Whigs supported William and Mary as kings in their hearts and actions, and resolutely opposed the restoration activities of James II and his descendants. Most Conservatives believe in the traditional law of succession to the throne and are unwilling to admit that William is a "legitimate and reasonable king" from the heart. At the end of Anne's reign, some nobles in the Tories were still plotting to restore the son of exiled monarch James. The differences between the two parties on the issue of succession to the throne largely led to the political situation in which the Conservative Party lost power for a long time after the new king of Hanover entered Britain. Third, the two parties have different attitudes towards the European war policy. Whigs are the representatives of the interests of new noble, the squire and the urban industrial and commercial class, and generally support the king's foreign war, believing that war is a necessary means for Britain to establish its hegemonic position and broaden its overseas market. Tories generally oppose war, believing that war will harm the interests of land nobles and lead to an increase in land taxes. Different attitudes towards war directly determine the political fate of the two parties. The establishment of Whig one-party government in William's time and Conservative one-party government in Anne's time were directly related to the war.

The competition between the two parties for parliamentary seats and cabinet positions is still fierce. Because the responsible government has not yet been formed, the parliamentary majority party may not be able to maintain its monopoly government, but it has become the general trend to fully consider the interests of the parliamentary majority party in the composition of the cabinet. This is because major government decisions must be discussed and approved by the parliament. If the government composition deviates seriously from the parliamentary majority, there will be a constitutional crisis. Therefore, on the one hand, the party politics here is manifested in the joint confrontation between the two parties and the weakening of kingship, on the other hand, it is manifested in the struggle between the two parties for the right to participate in politics. There are both cooperation and confrontation between the two parties, and the complexity of party politics can be seen.

Secondly, in the process of the transition from monarchy to party politics, that is, in the process of the rise of party politics, the king is still in power, and sometimes he can even decide the future and destiny of the party; On the other hand, the establishment of parliament's sovereign status forced the king to adjust the government composition according to the power distribution of parliament, which laid the foundation for the establishment of responsible cabinet later.

During the reign of William and Anne, the party government began to be established and operated. But in the composition of government members, the attitude of the king is very important. Although the results of parliamentary elections reflect public opinion to a great extent, they are not necessarily reflected in the composition of government members. With the parliament becoming a permanent body, general elections are held frequently, but the results of the general elections did not immediately cause changes in the government, because there was no precedent for the majority party to form a cabinet alone. During the reign of William and Anne, no government was the direct result of parliamentary elections. 1694 When William appointed Whigs to form a one-party cabinet, the majority in the lower house of parliament was the Tories and their supporters. It was not until the 1695 general election that the ruling Whig Party won a majority of seats in the lower house of parliament, thus consolidating its ruling position. Look at several elections in Anne's time: the Conservative Party won the general election 1702, but Anne continued the mixed government inherited by William, and Whigs held important positions in the government; 1708 After the general election, although the Whig Parliament (30) was established, Anne did not "appoint a Whig government in a strict sense" (3 1), but reorganized the Conservative government, appointed some Whig nobles to the political power, and gradually completed the transition from the government led by the Conservative Party to the government led by the Whig Party. This fully shows that the composition of the government at that time was not absolutely consistent with that of the lower house of parliament.