Gladstonianism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The liberal political ideas, reformist programme and moral seriousness associated with the nineteenth-century British statesman William Ewart Gladstone
2. The set of policies, beliefs and methods identified with the Victorian prime minister William Ewart Gladstone and his Liberal Party
3. Political doctrine and practice drawn from the career of William Ewart Gladstone, emphasising fiscal rectitude, reform and moral conviction in government

Etymology: Gladstonianism is named for William Ewart Gladstone, the British Liberal statesman who served four separate terms as Prime Minister in the late nineteenth century. The name was built by adding the suffix "-ism" to "Gladstonian," the adjective derived from his name. The suffix, borrowed through French from Greek "-ismos," turns a person's name into the name of a doctrine, system or set of principles associated with them. The word therefore denotes the political ideas and style of Gladstone himself: a strong commitment to liberal reform, fiscal orthodoxy, free trade, and moral seriousness in public life, along with his famous and often sharp Christian earnestness. Because Gladstone dominated Liberal politics for decades, the term is most often used by historians and commentators to describe the Liberal Party's outlook in his era and the political tradition that grew up around his personality.

Synonyms: liberalism