Thatcherism and Conservatism

Thatcherism is a set of political ideas during the time when Margaret Thatcher was in power, 1979~1990, and it is also an ideology associated with Thatcher. I would pointed out that it is difficult to define “Thatcherism” due to the fact that it combines many thoughts and ideas from different ideologies and it is absorbed from many sources from many thinkers and theorists such as Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman.
Take how Nigel Lawson, Mrs. Thatcher 's Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1983 to 1989, defined Thatcherism for reference, he said, “Thatcherism ' is, I believe, a useful term … No other modern Prime Minister has given his or her name to a particular constellation of policies and values. However it needs to be used with care. The wrong definition is 'whatever Margaret Thatcher herself at any time did or said '. The right definition involves a mixture of free markets, financial discipline, firm control over public expenditure, tax cuts, nationalism, 'Victorian values ' (of the Samuel Smiles self-help variety), privatization and a dash of populism.”
Thatcher became the Prime Minister when UK was in the difficulties with its economy and the loss of status internationally, therefore she introduced many policies, mainly based on neoliberal economic interests, have extraordinary influence on UK’s economy, which include, of course, free market, monetarist economic policy, privatization and policy in taxation. And also her opposition to the trade union posed a vital change in the society.
During the time Thatcher governed, especially in 1979 she became Conservative Prime Minister; Britain was confronted with many problems. Thatcher introduced monetarist economic policy, which means that she used the interest rates to control the money supply, to decrease the high inflation. She passed law to restrict trade union power due to the fact that there were too many strikes. The power of Trade union to disrupt the industry has been reduced. Moreover, owing to the fact that there was a lack of entrepreneurship and industrial in efficiency, she made the state owned company to private company. The national or local public services were opened to private enterprise. Also, she concentrated power in Westminster, and limited the local government power. Furthermore, in June 1982, Thatcher won a victory in the Falklands War, which produced a great improvement in Conservative poll rating and so did her reputation.
Before looking at how Thatcherism is different from the traditional forms of conservatism. It is necessary to understand what conservatism as an ideology is
Conservatism as an ideology developed in early C19. Edmund Burke, the most important conservative theorist, is usually described as the father of conservatism. His criticisms presented in her book Reflections on the Revolution in France (1970) are often considered to be the key statement of conservatism as an ideology. He pointed out that tradition is the key element in society, which represents wisdom and experience and is tested by time and also a sense of identity. He described society as a ‘partnership’ between ‘those who are living, those who are dead and those who are to be born’. He also suggested that we should be cautious about change and should not change too quickly. It is fairly to say that conservatives are resistant to change and defend traditions. Conservatives also have some pessimistic assumptions about human nature, and therefore they think that the society needs law and order. Conservatives believe that the society as an organism and individual has its role; they oppose the idea of immigration. The have the thought that it would break up the social ties and connections. Conservatives also strongly believe in authority.
Thatcher has changed many things. As I mentioned above, she has made many differences and changes in the society. Compared to conservatism, they are resistant to change, especially radical and rapid changes, if the change is needed, conservatives prefer reform to radical transformation, and the idea is very different from what Thatcher has done. However, we all know that conservatism changed with Thatcher, her Thatcherism promoted free-market economy, laissez-faire policy, and reduced state intervention because of their belief in the "invisible hands". Now, One Nation Conservatism, a pragmatic approach to politics, which was mainly introduced by Benjamin Disraeli, he was aware of the situation that there was a risk of Britain becoming ‘two nations: the rich and the poor.’ He believed that the rich have the responsibilities of improving the life of poorest members of society, is different from all those, they stress on a unity between people, and thus leans toward the left, and basically are in favor of a "welfare state". One Nation Conservatism also promotes the idea that the poor and the rich are together in the society, a united. However, Thatcher neglected the poor of the society. Her negligence contributed to divisions between Northern UK and the Southern UK, which contributed to her fall from power in 1990. Conservatism is relatively a pragmatic idea, but I held the doubt that whether Thatcher is pragmatic or not. She is autocratic, and ignored the view of her cabinets. Three of her minister resigned, which weakened her power and set the enemy in her party. This is the reason why she was kicked out by her own party in the election. By way of conclusion, it is not difficult to see a clue in Thatcherism of why Thatcher fell from power. However, it is always hard to judge a policy when it is first carried out and introduced because there is no certain circumstance in the politics. Only the time would prove everything, we could only learn from people’s experience and see how it is tested by time.

Bibliography：

Gamble, A. (1994). The Free Economy and the Strong State, the Politics of Thatcherism. Second Edition. New York: PALGRAVE.

Leach, R. (2002). Political Ideology in Britain. New York: PALGRAVE.

McNaughton, N. (2005). Political Ideologies. Oxford: Philip Allan Updates.

Pilkington, C. (1998). Issues in British Politics. London: MACMILLAN PRESS LTD.

Wikipedia, 2001. Thatcherism. [Online]. (updated 24 November 2008)
Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatcherism [Assessed 27 Nov 2008]

Bibliography: Gamble, A. (1994). The Free Economy and the Strong State, the Politics of Thatcherism. Second Edition. New York: PALGRAVE. Leach, R. (2002). Political Ideology in Britain. New York: PALGRAVE. McNaughton, N. (2005). Political Ideologies. Oxford: Philip Allan Updates. Pilkington, C. (1998). Issues in British Politics. London: MACMILLAN PRESS LTD. Wikipedia, 2001. Thatcherism. [Online]. (updated 24 November 2008) Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatcherism [Assessed 27 Nov 2008]