Thatcherism and British Politics

Thatcherism and British Politics PDF Author: Dennis Kavanagh
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book

Book Description
Margaret Thatcher is the only 20th-century prime minister to have given her name to a style as well as a doctrine. Although the final balance sheet of the successes and failures of Thatcherism is yet to be tallied, this book places the government of Mrs. Thatcher in the perspective of postwar British politics. Here, Kavanagh describes how a postwar political consensus--covering full employment, welfare, conciliation of the trade unions, a mixed economy with state intervention, and social engineering--was established with the support of dominant groups in the Conservative and Labour parties. He then shows how that settlement broke down in the face of economic problems, changes in policies and personnel in the main parties, and the challenge to the intellectual bases of the consensus mounted by groups on the New Right. The book concludes with an insightful analysis of the government's record, and of prospects for a new consensus. Mrs. Thatcher has cited the breaking of the consensus as one of her primary political objectives, and in this penetrating study she emerges both as the architect of the collapse of consensus and as its product.

Thatcherism and British Politics

Thatcherism and British Politics PDF Author: Dennis Kavanagh
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book

Book Description
Margaret Thatcher is the only 20th-century prime minister to have given her name to a style as well as a doctrine. Although the final balance sheet of the successes and failures of Thatcherism is yet to be tallied, this book places the government of Mrs. Thatcher in the perspective of postwar British politics. Here, Kavanagh describes how a postwar political consensus--covering full employment, welfare, conciliation of the trade unions, a mixed economy with state intervention, and social engineering--was established with the support of dominant groups in the Conservative and Labour parties. He then shows how that settlement broke down in the face of economic problems, changes in policies and personnel in the main parties, and the challenge to the intellectual bases of the consensus mounted by groups on the New Right. The book concludes with an insightful analysis of the government's record, and of prospects for a new consensus. Mrs. Thatcher has cited the breaking of the consensus as one of her primary political objectives, and in this penetrating study she emerges both as the architect of the collapse of consensus and as its product.

Thatcher's Britain

Thatcher's Britain PDF Author: Richard Vinen
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1471128288
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 303

Get Book

Book Description
Britain's first female prime minister remains a political figure of almost mythical proportions. Margaret Thatcher divided a political nation, became a cultural icon, and was the longest-serving prime minister of the twentieth century. Her period in government coincided with extraordinary changes in British society and in Britain's place in the world. Thatcher's Britaintells the story of Thatcherism for a generation with no personal memories of the 80s, as well as for those who want to revisit the polemics of their youth. It seeks to rescue Thatcher from being seen as John the Baptist for Tony Blair, stresses that Thatcherism was not a timeless phenomenon, but rooted in the 70s and 80s, and focuses our attention away from her legend, to what her government actually did during this tumultuous period in British history.

God and Mrs Thatcher

God and Mrs Thatcher PDF Author: Eliza Filby
Publisher: Biteback Publishing
ISBN: 1849548889
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 299

Get Book

Book Description
A woman demonised by the left and sanctified by the right, there has always been a religious undercurrent to discussions of Margaret Thatcher. However, while her Methodist roots are well known, the impact of her faith on her politics is often overlooked. In an attempt to source the origins of Margaret Thatcher's 'conviction politics', Eliza Filby explores how Thatcher's worldview was shaped and guided by the lessons of piety, thrift and the Protestant work ethic learnt in Finkin Street Methodist Church, Grantham, from her lay-preacher father. In doing so, she tells the story of how a Prime Minister steeped in the Nonconformist teachings of her childhood entered Downing Street determined to reinvigorate the nation with these religious values. Filby concludes that this was ultimately a failed crusade. In the end, Thatcher created a country that was not more Christian, but more secular; and not more devout, but entirely consumed by a new religion: capitalism. In upholding the sanctity of the individual, Thatcherism inadvertently signalled the death of Christian Britain. Drawing on previously unpublished archives, interviews and memoirs, Filby examines how the rise of Thatcher was echoed by the rebirth of the Christian right in Britain, both of which were forcefully opposed by the Church of England. Wide-ranging and exhaustively researched, God and Mrs Thatcher offers a truly original perspective on the source and substance of Margaret Thatcher's political values and the role that religion played in the politics of this tumultuous decade.

The Politics of the Thatcher Revolution

The Politics of the Thatcher Revolution PDF Author: G. Fry
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230594115
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 293

Get Book

Book Description
The Thatcher era was the most dramatic period in British politics since the 1940s. As Conservative Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher proved to be the 'Iron Lady' at home and abroad. This book analyzes the politics of the Thatcher era in an incisive and challenging manner.

Making Thatcher's Britain

Making Thatcher's Britain PDF Author: Ben Jackson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107012384
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Get Book

Book Description
This book situates the controversial Thatcher era in the political, social, cultural and economic history of modern Britain.

The Thatcherite Offensive

The Thatcherite Offensive PDF Author: Alexander Gallas
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004292217
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 332

Get Book

Book Description
In The Thatcherite Offensive, Alexander Gallas shows that Thatcherism’s unity as a political project lay in the fact that the Thatcher governments profoundly shifted class relations in Britain in favour of capital and restructured the institutions underpinning class domination.

The New Politics of British Trade Unionism

The New Politics of British Trade Unionism PDF Author: David Marsh
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780875467047
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 300

Get Book

Book Description
This is an introduction to the politics of trade unionism in contemporary Britain, assessing the major changes in legislation, policing and attitudes since 1979 as well as the broader social and economic trends to which these have been a response.

Thatcher and Thatcherism

Thatcher and Thatcherism PDF Author: Eric J. Evans
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 0415270138
Category : Conservatism
Languages : en
Pages : 157

Get Book

Book Description
Thatcherism produced dramatic changes in most aspects of public life, both in Britain and abroad. This work surveys the origins and impact of Thatcherism as a cultural construct and an economic creed. Centering on the career of Margaret Thatcher, the author argues that Thatcherism was a bold experiment in ideologically driven government which failed to meet its objectives.

Science Policy Under Thatcher

Science Policy Under Thatcher PDF Author: Jon Agar
Publisher: UCL Press
ISBN: 1787353419
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Get Book

Book Description
Margaret Thatcher was prime minister from 1979 to 1990, during which time her Conservative administration transformed the political landscape of Britain. Science Policy under Thatcher is the first book to examine systematically the interplay of science and government under her leadership. Thatcher was a working scientist before she became a professional politician, and she maintained a close watch on science matters as prime minister. Scientific knowledge and advice were important to many urgent issues of the 1980s, from late Cold War questions of defence to emerging environmental problems such as acid rain and climate change. Drawing on newly released primary sources, Jon Agar explores how Thatcher worked with and occasionally against the structures of scientific advice, as the scientific aspects of such issues were balanced or conflicted with other demands and values. To what extent, for example, was the freedom of the individual scientist to choose research projects balanced against the desire to secure more commercial applications? What was Thatcher’s stance towards European scientific collaboration and commitments? How did cuts in public expenditure affect the publicly funded research and teaching of universities? In weaving together numerous topics, including AIDS and bioethics, the nuclear industry and strategic defence, Agar adds to the picture we have of Thatcher and her radically Conservative agenda, and argues that the science policy devised under her leadership, not least in relation to industrial strategy, had a prolonged influence on the culture of British science.

The Anatomy of Thatcherism

The Anatomy of Thatcherism PDF Author: Shirley Robin Letwin
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 9781412848220
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 396

Get Book

Book Description
The Anatomy of Thatcherism explains how, for the first time In British history, a prime minister's name has become an 'Ism'—a symbol of a profound social change. Letwln argues that Thatcherism promoted a moral agenda rather than an economic doctrine or a political theory in order to achieve a fundamental realignment in British politics. She introduces a new terms—"the vigorous virtues"—to describe what Thatcherites have aimed to cultivate in Individual Britons and In the country as a whole. Her definition of Thatcherism is supported by a detailed analysis of the principal Thatcherite policies and the grounds on which they were advocated and opposed, Inside and outside the Conservative Party. Without departing from a lucid and lively style or resorting to technical jargon. Dr. Letwln explains such innovations as schools opting out, budget holding by GPs, and the creation of the first ever competitive spot market in electricity. Just how did the Thatcherite administrations shape the reform of the unions? How is the Thatcherite attitude to the family connected with Thatcherite policies on schools? Why does mon­etarism appear—wrongly—to be at the heart of Thatcherism? The Anatomy of Thatcherism is a bold and searching book about how Britain changed between 1979 and 1992. It challenges many truisms about British politics, and Is indispensable reading both for those who believe in the future relevance of Thatcherism and for those who want to demolish it. And it will be of particular interest to those con­cerned with the history of British politics, as It shows how Thatcherism both arose out of, and confronted, trends that had per­meated Conservatism for the entire twentieth century.