Explaining ‘Thatcherite’ Policies: Beyond Uni-Dimensional Explanation

Abstract

This paper provides an assessment of the relative importance of economic, political and ideological factors in the creation and development of ‘Thatcherite’ policies, not necessarily of ‘Thatcherism’ more broadly, through a detailed consideration of two key policy areas; privatization and industrial relations. Such detailed analysis is necessary to overcome a major weakness in the existing literature. There is no doubt that the accounts of ‘Thatcherism’ offered by Hall, Jessop et al., Taylor and Gamble are more convincing than those which concentrate almost exclusively on one explanatory variable. However, all these more inclusive explanations suffer from another problem; their treatment of some of the major areas of ‘Thatcherite’ policy change is superficial and not convincing. The detailed case studies indicate that Britain's continuing relative economic decline provided the crucial context within which both privatization and industrial relations policy were developed. However, the overall shape of the policies and, even more crucially, the detailed provisions, were strongly affected by strategic political judgements taken by politicians; most of them fairly short-term and concerned with the electoral consequences of actions. The Thatcher Cabinets were also responding to political events, like the ‘Winter of Discontent’, over which they had no control. ‘New Right’ ideology played a role, but it was hardly the driving force behind policy which the analysis of Wolfe and others suggests. New Right ideology was a tool rather than a blueprint. The article concludes that a full explanation of the origins and development of ‘Thatcherite’ policies should: acknowledge the dialectical nature of the relationship between structure and agency; recognize that any explanation must be multi-dimensional; but accept the necessity of specific case-by-case analysis.