When the French Tried to be British: Party, Opposition, and the Quest for Civil Disagreement, 1814-1848

In When The French Tried To Be British, J.a.w. Gunn Studies The French Effort During 1814 To 1848 To Adopt The Set Of Common Understandings That Lent A Comparative Stability To British Government. The Institutions Of A Loyal Opposition And Disciplined Political Parties Seemed To Be Implicit In The Parliamentary Model, But Their Acceptance Foundered On French Reluctance To Accord Legitimacy To Political Opponents. A Sophisticated Minority - Including Such Major Figures As Chateaubriand, Constant, Mme De Sta L, And Guizot - Recognized The Need For Something Approaching The British Political Culture, But The Wounds Opened By The Revolution Could Not Readily Be Healed. A More Or Less Complete Acceptance Of The Civil Disagreement That Was The Spirit Of The British Model Had To Await The Fifth Republic.