Journal of Liberal Democrat History 18 – Special issue: The Legacy of the Alliance and Merger
Journal of Liberal Democrat History 18 – Special issue: The Legacy of the Alliance and Merger
Issue: 18, Spring 1998Price: £5
Contents
Editorial: The Alliance years
Introduction to this special issue of the Journal.
The SDP's ideological legacy
What was the ideological inheritance of the Social Democratic Party? And what did it bequeath to the Liberal Democrats?
The merger debate in the SDP 1981-87
The history of the SDP-Liberal relationship, from beginnings to alliance to merger.
Alliance days
Vignettes of the days of elation and experiment, frustration and failure.
The Alliance: two-party cooperation in practice
How did Liberals and Social Democrats cope with the mechanics of alliance?
The Alliance: parties and leaders
How successful was the Alliance? Was merger the right road to follow? The case against.
The Merger Process: an SDP retrospect
A look back at the merger process from the perspective of the SDP negotiating team. Could it have been handled differently?
The Two Davids
Examination of how much the failure of the Alliance was due to the failures of its leaders.
The Alliance and after: The travelling of a necessary road
Was it all worth it? A look back at the Alliance years.
One man's pride
The lost opportunities of the Alliance years. David Owen and his impact on the Alliance.
Merger hopes and fears: Were they realised?
Alliance into merger: how has it worked? The myths and the realities.
Merger most foul
Review of Rachael Pitchford and Tony Greaves, Merger: The Inside Story (Liberal Renewal, 1989).
Falling apart
Review of Patricia Lee Sykes, Losing from the Inside: The Cost of Conflict in the British Social Democratic Party (Transaction Publishers, 1990).
Research notes: Issue 18
Chronology of key Alliance dates; bibliography: sources on Alliance history.