What is Thatcherism and how does it compare to the Post-War Consensus? Flashcards
What was Thatcher’s leadership style like?
- Described herself as a conviction politician + dismissive of the post-war consensus - saw as responsible for Britain’s ills)
- Thatcherism was a style rather than ideology
-Right-wing - comes from middle class family - Not a traditional tory - sometimes dismissed Tory grandees
What was Thatcher’s background?
- Middle class, daughter of a grocer, Alf Roberts, local councillor and a methodist lay preacher
- Self-improvement lay at the heart of Thatcher’s upbringing
- Went to Oxford and became a lawyer
- Was from a traditional conservative background
What was Thatcher’s ideology?
- Thatcherism was based on some traditional conservative thinking by some Tory intellectuals in the CP
- Thatcherism was based on some traditional thinking
- Heavily influenced by a number of ‘New Right’ think tanks and academics
What was Thatcher’s character?
- Self -reliance and self-improvement
- Dismissive of tory ways, followed policies based on own beliefs
What was Thatcher’s nickname
‘The Iron Lady’
What was the ‘New Right’ explanation from changing mixed economy to privitsation/ ‘free market’?
- She argued that Britain’s relative economic decline was down to its embrace of Keynesian economics.
- She believed excessive subsidations of many industries had made them uncompetitive and their products poor.
- Free market economics accepted that there was a natural level of unemployment
- Personal freedoms were better than state control
- Competition in business, entrepreneurship, drove up efficiency
What was the ‘New Right’ explanation from changing high taxation, high spending to low taxation?
- Allows business growth, more money to spend
- Buy more things for businesses, creates profit so they have more money to spend to expand
What was the ‘New Right’ explanation from changing trade unions working with governments to secure wage settlements to reduce power of trade unions?
- Business growth
- Increased productivity in businesses
- Reduced days lost on strike
What was the ‘New Right’ explanation from changing Keynesian to focus on free market economics - supply side economics?
- Thought inflation as something
- Keynesian economic policies allowed
- Reduce inflation to ensure economic growth
What was the ‘New Right’ explanation from changing full employment with an acceptance of inflation as the consequence to the thought focusing on full employment had damaged the economy?
- Wanted to reduce inflation
What was the ‘New Right’ explanation from changing collectivism to focus on individualism?
- Leads to motivation, health competition
- Economic growth
- Thought collectivism as lazy and dependent - dependency culture
Was Thatcher right to end the Post War Consensus?
- NO - some aspects needed - north/south divide
- YES - to stop inflation getting higher
