ABSTRACT
The middle quarters of the nineteenth century in particular represented the Golden Age of Classical Liberalism. The first industrialized society was characterized for most of the nineteenth century by a limited role for the State in the economy, and a restricted but slowly growing one in social provision. The nineteenth century certainly witnessed important changes in the machinery of government and in what the State did. The nineteenth century was when British government took on a form easily recognizable to the twentieth century eye, with marked developments in the direction of constitutional monarchy, a non-political Civil Service, Cabinet government, and parliamentary democracy. The ‘traditional’ functions of the State accounted for many of the main nineteenth century changes in governmental organization. The role of the State in the nineteenth century economy was a limited one. The nineteenth century Board of Trade also received important regulative functions in relation to various public utility and transport undertakings.
