ABSTRACT
Social context: stability and identity Compared to a number of other countries Britain, or more specifi cally England, has remained relatively stable in its political arrangements. It is true that events such as the signing of the Magna Carta (1215), the Wars of the Roses (1455-85), the English Civil War (1642-51) and the so-called ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688 were periods of political upheaval. As a result of these events Britain emerged with a constitutional monarchy, subordinate to the House of Commons and the dominance of the Protestant faith. However, Britain was able to manage the great nineteenth-century social and economic transformations of industrialisation and urbanisation relatively easily compared to other countries where there were corresponding political crises. Th e franchise (vote) was extended gradually until 1918 when all men over 21 and women over 30 were given the legal right vote in General Elections (parity being established in 1928). Despite the oft en remarked class divisions which existed in Britain, these were managed relatively easily and there was very little risk of political
revolution along the lines of France in 1789 or Russia in 1917. Th e class system was also relatively stable and this was oft en the feature of satire in Britain, such as the famous Frost Report sketch (1966), featuring a representative of the upper, middle and working classes each claiming to know and accept their place within the social hierarchy.
