Thatcher part 2: State intervention Flashcards
How did Thatcher fail to intervene with the state?
- She ultimately failed to prevent the state from growing throughout the 1980s
- The cost of welfare and maintaining law and order actually went up
How did Thatcher sucessfully intervine with the sate?
- The state intervened less in the economy & in people’s lives than had been the case in the previous decades
- She was willing to put theory into practice. Market forces and individual freedom were allowed to determine whether industries failed or succeeded
What is the GDP?
The total wealth of the country
What did Thatcher think was the root cause of Britain’s decline in the post-war years?
She felt that there was too much State intervention in people’s lives
What were Thatcher’s opinions on high taxes?
She felt that high taxes discourage entrepreneurship
What was Thatcher’s opinion on state owned industries?
She felt that the fact that the State owned too many industries discouraged innovation and competition
What was Thatcher’s opinion on a welfare state?
If you have a strong Welfare State, so the Thatcher logic would go, then you ultimately had too much dependency on welfare
Did Thatcher follow consensu politics?
Thatcher was happy to break from the consensus politics of the post-war era
Who were Thatcher’s inspirations?
- Keith Joseph
- Friedrich von Hayek
- Neoliberalism
Why was Thatcher inspired by Keith Joseph?
He was a new right conservative
Why was Thatcher inspired by Friedrich von Hayek?
He was an economist, published a book advocating against a large welfare state
Why was Thatcher inspired by Neoliberalism?
It was free market economic thinking, against state intervention and regulation,
Became popular among Tories in the 70s
What were Thatcher’s 3 main aims?
- Reduce the size of the state - small government.
- Reduce government interference in people’s lives.
- Promote efficiency through privatisation and ‘contracting out’
How many civil servants were there originally in the UK before Thatcher?
732 000 civil servants in Britain - 3x more than comparable nations
How did Thatcher try to change the civil service when she first became PM?
She brought in business-minded people and advisors from outside the government to help slim down the civil service
When did Thatcher abolish the Civil Service Department and why?
1981 - She saw it as a Trade Union
What was MINIS?
Introduced by the Environmental Minister
Allowed him to closely monitor the cost and responsibility of civil servants, inefficiencies could be uncovered and & cut out (job losses)
How many environmental minister workers were fired in 3 years under Thatcher?
¼ environmental minister workers were fired in 3 years
How was MINIS expanded?
It was rolled out to other ministers
By 1988, how many civil servants were sacked?
22.5% of civil servants had been sacked - saving £1 billion
What did the 1988 ‘Next steps’ report advise?
A less centralised civil service + more flexible ‘agencies’ that could work with the private sector
By 1991, how many private agencies had been made to replace parts of the civil service?
57 of these agencies - by 1997 76% of the civil service worked in 100 different agencies
What did Brian Harrison say about the changes in the civil service under Thatcher?
Brian Harrison - ‘ the most substantial revolution within the civil service since the 1850s’
Were Thatcher’s changes to the cuvi service succesful?
YES
- Thatcher slimmed down the civil service (by 1988 22,5% servants had been sacked)
- Made it more coordinated and efficient (use of agencies instead of centralised service)
How did Thatcher intend to change the local governments?
She wanted to slim down local government and reduce its independence
What did the 1985 Local Government Act allow Thatcher to do?
Allowed her to abolish councils - Greater London Council + 6 others city councils abolished
Why did Thatcher want to change local government?
Wanted to cripple the labour councils who tried to fight her policies
