Margaret Thatcher

Paper Summary:

This paper deals with Margaret Thatcher's policies implemented in Britain from the 1970's until the 1990's. The paper examines how it changed Britain's political consensus and British society. It studies the consequences of the Iron Lady's strong and radical decisions and leadership. Comparisons with previous conservative governments and Hayek's monetarism are also discussed.

From the Paper:

"Coming from a relatively modest social background - she was the daughter of a provincial grocer - Margaret Thatcher became in 1979 the first woman elected to the highest governing function of a country in the developed world. Known as the Iron Lady - an appellation coming from Radio Moscow and which stuck - she then implemented a radical economic and political policy, summarized by the term of "Thatcherism". Her agenda and ideology can be described as "radical", as it drastically broke from the so-called "Post-war consensus" which characterized Britain's governing tradition since 1945. By its nearly authoritarian way of governing, Margaret Thatcher appears as the electroshock which woke Britain up from the depressed torpor it was plunged into for a century, even if the effects of its years at 10 Downing Street must be carefully judged. This essay will observe first that, though Thatcherism, to a certain extent, re-activates and continues certain traditions of the Conservative Party, it constitutes mostly a new perspective and strategy for the Tories as well as a radical fracture from Britain's post-war economical, political and ideological consensus."

More papers on Margaret Thatcher:

• Essay # 5430 : "The Life and Career of Margaret Thatcher"
• Term Paper # 90057 : "Margaret Thatcher"
• Research Paper # 56117 : "Margaret Thatcher"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: