Thatcherism and the Welfare State

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject Economics - Case Scenarios, grade: 1,0 (A), Stellenbosch Universitiy (Department of Economics), course: Modern Economic Systems and Global Capitalizm, language: English, abstract: What has happened, that still has an influence on recent policy of even more left-winged parties as Labour in Britain as the following statement shows? "The Labour (Party) has moved to the right since 1983 is undeniable (...). Is it best explained as an updating of socialism in the face of modernity? Or else as Tory clothes-stealing, a necessary or unnecessary concession to political enemies in the interest of securing an electoral victory?"2 Therefore the goal of this thesis will be to fathom the position of this new economic agenda, called 'New-Right', which has at a stretch been adopted by the most former left from the centre positioned parties in the Western World. Of which kind is this strong ideology that caused the crisis of the "New Left" by cutting back the state and the welfare state. This thesis shall furthermore give an idea to what extend did Thatcherism influence the observable substantial change and to what extend were the targets of this ideology achieved successfully or not. But to do so, it is first necessary to give an short overview on the development of state intervention in the shape of the welfare state with a main focus on Britain. Accordingly main economic thoughts and their ideology on social welfare will be illuminated briefly. After elementary information is provided Thatcherism, meaning its ideas, ideology, main aims and critics of interventionalism will be introduced. By doing so it will be possible to evaluate how successful Mrs. Thatcher and the Tories were in rolling back the state. To conclude the recent situation of the "New Left" as political agenda will be touched on.