War theLeague of Nationscreated mandates transferring administrative
controls over colonial territories of the defeated German and Turkish empires
to certain of the victorious powers. The mandate was to govern the territories
in the best interests of their populations, with independence as the eventual
aim. A similar system exists in the trustee system of theUnited Nations.
Manifesto
Manifestos are usually taken to be the official statements of intended policy
issued by political parties at the beginning of election campaigns. In fact
manifesto can have a broader meaning, covering all statements of political
intent or even a call for support in a revolutionary situation, as withThe
Communist Manifestowritten byMarxandEngelsin 1848. Manifestos vary
enormously in length, style and political importance, but virtually every
political partyin every democratic system issues some equivalent to a
manifesto before every election. They can be politically quite irrelevant,
neither read by anyone nor influencing elected party members, as with the
‘platforms’ issued by the US political parties. These are lengthy documents
negotiated bycommitteeat the nominating conventions for presidential
candidates, which often have important symbolic interest to party activists,
but are of no consequence whatever. In some systems, notably the Italian
system today, and the FrenchFourth Republic, manifestos were important
bargaining tools for coalition building: a party could insist that if they were to
join a coalition it must accept a specific policy on the grounds that the policy
was in their manifesto. These can even reach the level of a ‘common
programme’, as with the arrangement between the French socialists and
communists in the late 1970s. It is usually thought that the breakdown over
this common programme delayed the socialists’ electoral victory until 1980.
In the United Kingdom manifestos have become largely standardized since
the 1960s, taking the form of small booklets of about 15,000–20,000 words,
although recently they have become increasingly glossily produced, and
created by a party committee. In the past the Conservative Party manifesto
was often just the party leader’s personal address to the electorate. In the Labour
Party the manifesto has always been vital because it has reflected the conflict in
the party over different electoral strategies. The policies carried out by
governments have not followed closely the promises made in manifestos, even
though manifesto commitments are taken seriously by many party members.
In part they represent a way for back-benchers to retain some control over their
own government’s behaviour. They also have a constitutional role in the UK. It
is widely accepted that the House of Lords (seesecond chamber) ought not
to interfere seriously with government legislation if it stems from a policy that
Manifesto