Everyday Politics, Ordinary Lives: Democratic Engagement in Britain, 1918-1992

This project investigates how British citizens understood politics and how they viewed its relationship to their lives, from 1918 to 1992. It focuses on the everyday political opinions, discussions and interactions of ordinary British people in the period from the establishment of a near democracy with the Representation of the People Act 1918 (which gave the vote to all adult men and most women over 30) up until the transformation of British political culture with the emergence of 24-hour news channels and the internet in the early 1990s. What sorts of issues were regarded as being 'political'? Did they seem important? How and when were they discussed? What sort of expectations did people have of politicians and the political system? The research will pay particular attention to the ways in which women and young people related to a political system dominated by middle-aged men.
The project is rooted in the belief that there is often a gulf between elite and popular understandings of politics, and that politicians, the media and scholars have frequently applied definitions and labels ('left-wing' or 'right-wing', 'conservative' or 'liberal') that do not necessarily map onto the views and experiences of ordinary British citizens (and especially women and young people). The project will draw on evidence from social surveys, life writing, opinion polls, and popular culture to identify and analyse the changing place of politics in everyday life, and the deeper attitudes and assumptions that informed political responses. This research will be used to write a scholarly, but accessible, book that will connect patterns of political engagement to wider social and cultural changes.
The project seeks to use this research to contribute to public policy debates. Political disengagement and alienation - seen in declining turnouts at elections, low trust ratings for politicians, officials and 'experts', and the rejection of European institutions in the 'Brexit' campaign - is one of Britain's most pressing policy challenges. Yet much recent commentary risks misdiagnosing the contemporary situation because it relies on inaccurate or unproven historical assumptions - for example, that in previous decades citizens were more politically engaged, had clearer ideological positions, were more deferential, had greater respect for, and trust in, politicians, received more reliable information, and had lower expectations of the state and the political system. This project will provide a sophisticated historical treatment of these issues and will challenge many of these assumptions. Its focus on everyday politics and ordinary lives will also help us to understand the gulf between elite and popular political opinions and languages, which is a glaring feature of the current culture. The PI will work with History & Policy (an organisation that makes high-quality historical research freely accessible online and creates opportunities for historians, policy makers and journalists to connect and learn from each other), the Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics (based at the University of Sheffield) and the People's History Museum in Manchester to engage politicians, policy-makers, the media and the wider public in order to reframe and contextualise contemporary developments.
This programme of activity will enable the PI to develop his leadership skills by enabling him to pursue new research agendas, to foster new scholarly and professional collaborations, and to deepen his expertise in engaging with policy-makers, the media and the wider public.

There is considerable contemporary interest in, and concern about, levels of political engagement and the gulf between elite and popular understandings of key political issues. Yet much recent commentary risks misdiagnosing the contemporary situation because it relies on inaccurate or unproven historical assumptions - for example, that in previous decades citizens were more politically engaged, had clearer ideological positions, were more deferential, had greater respect for, and trust in, politicians, and received more reliable political information. By testing, and challenging, these assumptions, and providing a rigorous study of popular understandings of politics across the twentieth century, this project will be of value to policy-makers and politicians, the media, and the wider public. I will work with History & Policy and the Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics to maximise the impact of this research. History & Policy, which was established in 2002, is a national organisation that makes high-quality historical research freely accessible online and creates opportunities for historians, policy makers and journalists to connect and learn from each other. I am a Senior Editor, and have considerable experience working with them on policy issues (notably on the subjects of child sexual abuse and press regulation). The Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics, based at the University of Sheffield, is a designated ESRC Knowledge Exchange Hub, and has extensive expertise in making academic research findings accessible; it has partnerships with a range of national and international media outlets. This project will engage the following groups:
1.Policy-makers and Politicians. I will work with History & Policy to organise a workshop in London in June 2018 where I will discuss with policy-makers, politicians, journalists and academics how history can inform and reframe our understanding of popular political engagement. The event would have a natural hook in the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act. I would supplement the event with a policy paper (c. 4000 words) for the History & Policy website, designed for current policy makers, and disseminated by the History & Policy public affairs office. There may be potential for follow-up contacts or events.
I will target a local/ regional audience of local politicians, councillors and journalists with an event in Sheffield in July 2018 organised by the Crick Centre. The Crick Centre has many contacts with politicians in the area (e.g. Lord Blunkett), who would be invited to the event.
2. Media. Both History & Policy and the Crick Centre have extensive media contacts, and journalists would be invited to attend, and discuss the content of, the events in June and July. History & Policy policy papers are often republished or reworked in other outlets (e.g. Guardian Online, The Conversation, Open Democracy) and I would actively pursue these opportunities. I also intend to place an article in History Today (for whom I have published three articles - two individually-written, and one co-written - since December 2013).
3. Wider Public. In addition to the event in Sheffield organized by the Crick Centre, which will be open to the public, I will organize a public roundtable event in June 2018 at the People's History Museum in Manchester. I will discuss my findings with two respondents (a political scientist and a journalist), give some accessible historical examples, and seek to generate debate. This event will follow an established format at the Museum, which runs a monthly 'Have Your Say' event on political issues.
The wider public will also be engaged by the media pieces listed above. In addition, I have discussed with Oxford University Press that the planned monograph be presented as an 'impact' book - that is, a monograph that is mainly directed to academics, but will also appeal to a wider audience, with a price of c. £30.