ABSTRACT
It is obvious that in a country with a democratic constitution the differences of principle which divide political parties may be greatly diminished in practice by the democratic sanction which necessarily controls the application of those principles. Neither the parties of the Right nor of the Left can, as a rule, hope to apply their ideal policies without some modification and compromise in deference to public opinion. The Party of the Right usually has to move towards the Left and the Party of the Left usually has to move towards the Right when transforming ideals into practical policies. Such compromises are necessary because a democratic constitution as such can hope to survive only if the government in power avoids measures which appear radically unjust to those who oppose its policy and abstains from action which would be strongly resisted by a large section of the electorate. Thus a fundamental distinction must be drawn between the philosophies of, say, Conservatism and Socialism on the one hand and the extent to which these philosophies have been applied when Conservatives and Socialists respectively have been in power in the British Parliament.
