Formation,Debates And Evolution Of The Clause Ⅳ In Labour Party Rule Book

In today’s world, political parties have played major roles in most countries’politics. Especially for the country which under two-party system or multi-party system, political power in this country alternates between different parties promote development and reformation. Labour Party is one of the two major parties in UK. It’s a typical left-wing party in capitalist countries, as well as the representative of the Socialist Parties in western countries. British Labour Party was found in 1906, the first rule book was issued in 1918. The Clause IV which about public ownership is the brightest symbol different from other bourgeois parties. Then, Labour Party started to make policies on public ownership and nationalization. From the beginning till now, Labour Party was set up for a centenary. During this time, it has experienced both good times and bad times. Clause IV could be a key factor in the party’s rise and fall, and made a profound impact on UK politics. Therefore, this thesis will mainly focus on discussing the forming process and the evolution of Labour Party’s rule book Clause IV, and finally get some thinking and lessons.This thesis consist four parts. The first chapter is the formation and early practice of Clause IV, illustrates the forming process of Labour Party Rule Book, analysis the reason why Clause IV was set up, summary Labour Party’s early practice under the guidance of Clause IV. The second chapter and the third chapter is about the evolution of public-owned polices. These two parts give a detailed discussion on the transformation of Clause IV, and summarize each dispute in Labour Party during the period of three times big wave of nationalization, analysis the feature and the influence of public-owned polices when they changed. The fourth chapter is about the after-effects of public ownership in New Labour. This part will explore the refactorng of the Labour Party under Mr. Blair, compares with Blair’s New Labour and New Clause IV, and discusses the democratic transition of Labour Party. The end of this thesis is a summary, this part reveals the essence of the bourgeois reformism British Labour Party, discusses the great significance of public ownership transformation, thus can be better understand the history of Labour Party development.