Book Review: Consensus Politics Attlee to Major

Book Review: Consensus Politics Attlee to Major

About the Authors

The book is written by the pioneer s of political science. Dennis Kavanagh is serving as the professor of Politics at the University of Nottihngham. He has sketched out many works on the British politics among which Thatcherism and British Politics, Political Science and Political Behaviour, British Politics: Continuities and Change and The Politics of the Labour Party are the most influential one. He has also co-authored the Nuffield election studies since 1974. The book “Consensus Politics: from Attlee to Major” is co-authored by Peter Morris who is serving as a lecturer at the University of Nottingham. He has written many accounts on the aspects of modern French history and politics.

Synopsis

The politics of Britain right from the end of the Second World War to the rise of Thatcherism is described as the era in which consensus politics was practiced. It was proclaimed by Mrs. Margaret Thatcher in 1979 that it must be a conviction government. It was the view which was compatible with the consensus government style and set to challenge the already shared assumptions for last three decades. Margaret Thatcher brought a revolt against consensus government and her successor, John Major also maintained most of her policies and stance in his term (Kavanagh and Morris,1994). This book examines the legacy of conviction politics of Thatcher and the rise and fall of the post war consensus, particular in five areas of politics that are mixed economy, trade unions, full employment, welfare state and foreign and defense policies. It has also assessed the state of consensus ion Britain today.

Discussion

The first labor government was lead by Attlee with a complete majority. He possessed a sweeping mandate which introduced the delight peace with a socialist tinge. The consensus politics also emerged in during his era in which a liberal colonial policy was supported by both the left wing of the Conservatives and right wing of the Labor party. They also supported Keynesian politics which supported the theory of investing more in industrial area to overcome the recessions along with the pacifying attitude in labor relations.

The victory of Conservative leader Mrs. Margaret Thatcher in the general elections of 1979 brings a change in Britain politics that brought a revolt against consensus politics with her aggressive adversarial stance and termed it as a conviction politics. Mrs. Thatcher did not believe in the concept of society rather she believed that only fundamental realities are the individual sad n the families and was interested in their well being. Her belief was that individuals should be able to attain their self-betterment with the least interference from the state or restricted practices of unions or practices of other professions (Kavanagh and Morris, 1994). This version of liberal economy threatened the achievements of the “nanny state”, as named by Mrs. Thatcher and divided the nation in to “us” and “them” which did not happen in many decades in the kingdom. Her style became familiar with the ...