The Whig Oligarchy

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The Whig Oligarchy

• 1714-1760

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Common Sense

• No upheaval
• Religion not worth fighting for
• Revolution Settlement just fine
• Central Government not interventionist

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Not an age of reform
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Mixed Government

• Monarchical, aristocratic, and democratic

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George I and George II
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Monarchical

• Not figureheads
• Hanoverians

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Battle of Dettingen
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Queen Caroline
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The Cabinet Now

• Government Ministers
• Collective responsibility
• Same political party
• Chief Ministers

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18th Century Cabinet

• Privy Council ineffective
• Functional Existence
• King stops attending (1717)

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Prime Minister

• Robert Walpole
• First PM?

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Party System

• Whigs in power
• Septennial Act (1716)
• Kings Preferred Whits

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Points to Consider

• Loyal Opposition
• No big issues

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Parliament

• House of Lords (peers)
• House of Commons (junior but more important)
• Boroughs

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Virtues

• Local liberty
• Major economic groups represented
• Gives (connected) talent an early chance
• Debate could persuade

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Public Opinion

• Local Government
• counties
• parishes
• Justices of the Peace
• Rioting