British Cinema of The 1980s - Thatcherism (Assessment) Flashcards
How long was Margaret Thatcher/the Conservative Party in power for?
11 years
How many General Election victories did Thatcher win?
3
‘Thatcher operated as an _______________, autocratic politician who polarized opponents and tolerated no dissent from members of her own party’.
Ideological
‘She guided the Tories as their appeal extended to the rising lower-middle class, the skilled working class, and even manual labourers - deeply encroaching on traditional Labour party loyalty by leading the nation to a jingoistic, flag-waving ‘victory’ in the _________ and by promoting the expansion of share ownership and the sale of council flats to tenants’
Falklands
‘Thatcher envisioned people’s _____ ______ position more as a situation to be changed and overcome rather than as a historically fixed state.’
Social class
Margaret Thatcher was no egalitarian; for example, she opposed redistribution programmes, seeing little need to soften the gap between the wealthy and the impoverished or to cushion the social and economic pain of those who failed in the struggle for economic success.
What does egalitarian mean?
Characterised by belief in the equality of all people, especially in political, economic, or social life.
She was strongly attracted to the monetarist economic theories of American New Right economist Milton Friedman.
What does monetarist mean?
A doctrine holding that changes in the money supply determine the direction of a nation’s economy.
Thatcher vowed to reduce the regulatory role of government and bureaucracy, attacking welfare state dependency by reducing social _________, services (transportation, education and health), and taxes.
Spending
Thatcher also aided the wealthy by easing the capital gains tax and cutting the top rate on earned income from 83% to _____%
40%
She privatised public companies like British Airways, criticised socialism, espoused an ethic of individual self-sufficiency and promoted the pursuit of personal profit as a moral virtue.
What does privatisation mean?
To transfer from public or government control or ownership to private enterprise.
Building on her election mandate, Thatcher succeeded in passing a series of antiunion ____.
Laws
Thatcher helped create a UK where the rich got richer while the poor became more impoverished (with 20% of the people living under the poverty line), reversing a ___ year pattern where incomes were gradually growing more equal.
40
Amid the rising standard of living, an embittered, visible ____________ began to develop; the number of homeless rose to one million (150,000 under the age of twenty-five); burglary, car thievery, and vandalism greatly increased; and the country had the distinction of having the highest per capita prison population within the European Community.
Underclass
She helped create an England where the rich got richer while the poor became more impoverished (with 20% of the people living under the poverty line), reversing a ___ year pattern where incomes were gradually growing more equal.
40
Which political party did Margaret Thatcher lead?
Conservative
