In this "classical study of British politics by an American authority," Samuel H. Beer describes political parties and interest groups in Great Britain and how they affect public policy. He sketches four different types of politics (corresponding roughly to four different historical periods)--Old Tory, Old Whig, Liberal, and Radical. The fifth and contemporary type he calls collectivism. The main part of the book traces the rise of collectivism from the late nineteenth century through the early decades of this century, until it came to dominate British politics in the post war years.