Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1957- (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 box
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
From the 1950s political power in the Bahamas had been contested between the white dominated United Bahamian Party and the Progressive Liberal Party, which represented the interests of the emerging black middle class. The latter gained control of government in 1967 and guided the country to independence by 1973. Critics alleged that the transfer of political power had made little difference to the lives of ordinary Bahamians, and that governments continued to prioritise foreign capital investment and the promotion of the Bahamas as a tax haven to the detriment of spending on social welfare or any attempt at wealth redistribution. Furthermore, by the time long-term PLP leader Lynden O. Pindling was defeated at the polls in 1992 he was facing charges of corruption and of supporting drug trafficking. The items here deal with all these inter-related issues, with the bulk of the material devoted to the pre-independence elections of the 1960s during which the transition to black-led governments occurred.
Repository
Archival history
The ICS political parties collection was begun in 1960-1961, with special emphasis being placed on primary material such as party constitutions, policy statements, convention reports and election manifestos. Since then, the main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to political parties throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant. More recently material has been collected by means of downloading documents from the websites of the major parties.
GB 0101 PP.BF 1957- Collection (Fonds) 1 box Institute of Commonwealth Studies
From the 1950s political power in the Bahamas had been contested between the white dominated United Bahamian Party and the Progressive Liberal Party, which represented the interests of the emerging black middle class. The latter gained control of government in 1967 and guided the country to independence by 1973. Critics alleged that the transfer of political power had made little difference to the lives of ordinary Bahamians, and that governments continued to prioritise foreign capital investment and the promotion of the Bahamas as a tax haven to the detriment of spending on social welfare or any attempt at wealth redistribution. Furthermore, by the time long-term PLP leader Lynden O. Pindling was defeated at the polls in 1992 he was facing charges of corruption and of supporting drug trafficking. The items here deal with all these inter-related issues, with the bulk of the material devoted to the pre-independence elections of the 1960s during which the transition to black-led governments occurred.
The ICS political parties collection was begun in 1960-1961, with special emphasis being placed on primary material such as party constitutions, policy statements, convention reports and election manifestos. Since then, the main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to political parties throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant. More recently material has been collected by means of downloading documents from the websites of the major parties.
Institute of Commonwealth Studies
Manifestos, newsletters and pamphlets issued by the Free National Movement (Bahamas), the Bahamas Federation of Labour/Labour Party, the Progressive Liberal Party (Bahamas), the United Bahamian Party, and the Vanguard Nationalist and Socialist Party of the Bahamas.
Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.
Alphabetically by party, and then in rough chronological order.
Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.
Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.
English
Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT)
See also Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.
The Political Archives Project was a 2.5 year project to catalogue political archive material held in the libraries of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas to the University and present it as a cohesive virtual collection. The project was successfully completed in July 2005. Descriptions of all the documents may be found by searching the library catalogue at http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/, or via the Political Archives website: http://polarch.sas.ac.uk
Description compiled by Daniel Millum, Political Archives Project Officer at the Institutes of Commonwealth and Latin American Studies. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. Created 16/02/2004 AIM25 Bahamas Bahamas Federation of Labour Caribbean Elections Electoral systems Free National Movement (Bahamas) Internal politics Parliamentary elections Political parties Political process Political science Progressive Liberal Party (Bahamas) Socialist Party of the Bahamas United Bahamian Party Vanguard Nationalist
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Institute of Commonwealth Studies
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Manifestos, newsletters and pamphlets issued by the Free National Movement (Bahamas), the Bahamas Federation of Labour/Labour Party, the Progressive Liberal Party (Bahamas), the United Bahamian Party, and the Vanguard Nationalist and Socialist Party of the Bahamas.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.
System of arrangement
Alphabetically by party, and then in rough chronological order.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
See also Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.
Finding aids
Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT)
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Publication note
The Political Archives Project was a 2.5 year project to catalogue political archive material held in the libraries of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas to the University and present it as a cohesive virtual collection. The project was successfully completed in July 2005. Descriptions of all the documents may be found by searching the library catalogue at http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/, or via the Political Archives website: http://polarch.sas.ac.uk
Notes area
Note
The Political Archives Project was a 2.5 year project to catalogue political archive material held in the libraries of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas to the University and present it as a cohesive virtual collection. The project was successfully completed in July 2005. Descriptions of all the documents may be found by searching the library catalogue at http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/, or via the Political Archives website: http://polarch.sas.ac.uk
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English