'This is a fascinating collection of essays which, taken as a whole, ask (and answer) vital questions regarding contemporary British political life.' - Contemporary Review'It contains eight original, scholarly essays, each an exemplification of and commentary upon the twists, turnns, ironies and paradxes in the changing stances adopted mainly by the two major political parties over the past two decades ... there is some thought-provoking stuff here.' - Talking Politics

• Chapter 1 Britain in the Nineties The Politics of Paradox, Hugh Berrington; Chapter 2 Power in the Parties: R. T. McKenzie and After, Dennis Kavanagh; Chapter 3 Europe, Thatcherism and Traditionalism: Opinion, Rebellion and the Maastricht Treaty in the Backbench Conservative Party, 1992–1994, Hugh Berrington, Rod Hague; Chapter 4 From Hostility to ‘Constructive Engagement’: The Europeanisation of the Labour Party, Philip Daniels; Chapter 5 Narratives of ‘Thatcherism’, Mark Bevir, R. A. W. Rhodes; Chapter 6 Institutions, Regulation, and Change: New Regulatory Agencies in the British Privatised Utilities, Mark Thatcher; Chapter 7 The Judicial Dimension in British Politics, Nevil Johnson; Chapter 8 The Periphery and its Paradoxes, William L. Miller; Chapter 9 The British Electorate in the 1990s, David Denver;