"This book is concerned with the political culture sponsored by the government of Charles II and its role in the emergence of political parties during the Restoration. It argues that various forms of official propaganda existed that expressed coherent ideological positions. These opinions were the necessary precursors to the political parties that emerged after the Exclusion Crisis.

While acknowledging the importance of organization in the process of party development, the majority of this work deals with the ideological differences that Restoration political culture helped to expose. The study of political culture here is informed by an interdisciplinary approach to a wide variety of genres. As a result, part one focuses primarily on the printed materials offered by the government to the rapidly expanding political nation."--BOOK JACKET.