Establishing the Ontological Status of Thatcherism by Gauging its ‘Periodisability’: Towards a ‘Cascade Theory’ of Public Policy Radicalism

Abstract

What, if anything, was Thatcherism? This article aims to gauge the extent to which it is credible and useful to speak of Thatcherism in the singular. It does so by developing a series of periodisations of the policy-making process in different policy domains since the late 1970s. This allows us to assess the degree to which a common rationale-such as might be associated with Thatcherism (as an instinct or project)-is exhibited in the sequencing of policy developments in different fields. In the process we seek to establish a new and more generally applicable methodology for establishing the existence of path-shaping political projects (such as Thatcherism) by gauging their periodisability. We conclude that the label Thatcherism is, indeed, warranted, since an account couched in such terms can illuminate an analysis of policy development since the late 1970s in a range of fields and can contribute to our understanding of the timing and sequencing of policy developments in each domain. Thatcherism, in other words, can be said to have existed because Thatcherism is periodisable. Our approach leads us to develop a 'cascade' theory of public policy radicalism and spillover between issue domains.

Penal Populism and the Public Thermostat: Crime, Public Punitiveness, and Public Policy

“…In office, however, the Thatcher governments did not follow through on this tough rhetoric in focusing on crime or the criminal justice system, with other more immediate priorities taking precedence. As a consequence, criminal justice policy did not undergo the sort of radical shift that occurred in other policy domains (Hay and Farrall ). Instead, it was the Major government that presided over a critical juncture in the growth of the criminal justice state, from 1990 onward.…”

Change in the political economy of land value capture in England

“…Jessop et al, 1988) tend to stress discontinuities. In contrast, those focusing analysis on meso and micro levels (second-and first-orders) tend, instead, to emphasise the unevenness of policy change, including policy continuities (Hay and Farrall, 2011). Such differences in analytical focus are not logically incompatible.…”

“…Such differences in analytical focus are not logically incompatible. Gaps between radical macro-ideational change and more incremental change at meso and micro levels might arise from implementation failures or intentional, strategic in/action (Hay and Farrall, 2011).…”

Thatcherism, Crime and the Legacy of the Social and Economic ‘Storms’ of the 1980s

“…Regardless of precisely how 'short-lived' such social stress is (is ten years a long or a short period of time, for example? ), we have been at pains to chart and document the long-term implications of such periods of rapid change (see Farrall, Burke and Hay 2016a;Farrall et al 2016b;Jennings et al, 2016;Hay and Farrall 2011). From this perspective, theories of anomie offer a potential avenue to stretch our understanding of how dramatic social change and shifts in the patterns and pace of crime (such as that experienced during and after the Thatcherite era) impact upon society.…”