The Cocker Spaniel breed standard has stayed much the same from the original breed standard laid down by the breed founders (some small alterations have been made but nothing major). It's people that change breeds not the Kennel Club - people have since time immemorial bred dogs for their own particular purposes and breeds have thus evolved to suit those different purposes.
I agree with all you have posted apart from the above. The kennel club is made up of people the last time I looked and at the end of the day they have agreed to the breed standard.
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The Kennel club is simply a registry for dogs. Most of the breed standards you see today remain unchanged from when breed type was first established. The problem is that a breed standard is always up for interpretation and the traits that people want now and reward breeders for now may not be the traits that were first considered desirable for the breed's original function. If anyone is to be blamed it's individual judges who reward for undesirable traits and breeders who breed for those traits for the sole goal of winning for themselves instead of winning for the breed as as a whole.
The standard for cockers specifically states that a coat that is "not too profuse" is desirable yet many breeders are rewarded for having dogs with coats that are much too heavy to be functional. Modern show cockers tend to have a much heavier coat than earlier dogs, but honestly they bear more resemblance in type to the founding Cockers of old than many of the working Cockers you see today, but that's what happens when working spaniel breeders pay hardly any attention to conformation or breed type.
The same goes for your favorite dog, the GSD. Looking at the standard it specifically states, "versatile working dog, balanced and free from exaggeration," "Clear definition of masculinity and femininity essential" (this one is a bigger problem for American bred GSDs),"working ability never sacrificed for mere beauty", yet roached backed dogs with their hocks flapping around on the ground are winning in the ring. Whose to blame, the breed standard that was clearly written for the versatile working dog that Max von Stephanitz envisioned or the judges and the breeders who breed for what they see to be the perfect bone structure and a beautiful gait vs actual working ability?
Many breeds are on the road to ruin, because of peoples' misinterpretation or complete disregard of the original standard, but it is of my opinion that the Cocker Spaniel (at least the English version) is NOT one of them. In my heart I would love nothing more than there be absolutely no separation in type, like you see in other working/gun dog breeds, but regardless of the modern trend to split type, both versions are endeared to me. Both types are beautiful in their individual way and both types should be celebrated for what they are: Cocker Spaniels.
