Explaining ‘Thatcherite’ Policies: Beyond Uni-Dimensional Explanation

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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.