The social movements were impressive, but the key to Britain’s success was the way political leaders responded to them. Britain was blessed by a stable parliamentary system and by a legislative culture that valued deliberation and debate. The Whigs passed the democratic Reform Act of 1832. He turned his party into a moderate conservative party, endorsing Whig reforms and passing a bunch of his own. We have not passed a steady drumbeat of pragmatic reforms the way the Whigs and the Tories did.

Source: New York Times February 06, 2018 00:45 UTC