Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T18:42:55.187Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ideological Change in the British Conservative Party

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Ivor Crewe  and
Donald D. Searing
Ivor Crewe
Affiliation:
University of Essex
Donald D. Searing
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We address both a puzzle and a theory. The puzzle is posed by the emergence of “Thatcherism,” an un-Conservative ideology that has appeared in an antiideological British Conservative party. We address this puzzle by determining what Thatcherism is and by showing that although it represents a minority viewpoint, it does indeed fit into previous Conservative thinking. The theory in question is the spatial theory of ideological change, which, we argue, is impugned by the circumstances of Thatcherism's construction. We address this theory by investigating potential constituencies at the time of Thatcherism's creation and by examining evidence about the intentions of those who created it. Finally, we seek both to draw out the implications of Mrs. Thatcher's campaign to convert the voters to her views and to explain why the same spatial theory that Thatcherism confounds seem confirmed by equally striking cases in postwar British politics.

Type
Articles
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 82 , Issue 2 , June 1988 , pp. 361 - 384
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beattie, Alan. 1979. Macmillan's Mantle: The Conservative Party in the 1970s. Political Quarterly 50:273–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beer, Samuel H. 1965. British Politics in the Collectivist Age. New York: Knopf.Google Scholar
Behrens, Robert. 1980. The Conservative Party from Heath to Thatcher. London: Saxon House.Google Scholar
Blake, Robert. 1970. The Conservative Party from Peele to Churchill. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode.Google Scholar
Bulpitt, Jim. 1986. The Discipline of the New Democracy: Mrs. Thatcher's Statecraft. Political Studies 34:19–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burch, Martin. 1983. Mrs. Thatcher's Approach to Leadership in Government: 1979-June 1983. Parliamentary Affairs 36:399–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, Lord. 1971. The Art of the Possible. London: Hamish Hamilton.Google Scholar
Chappell, Henry W., and Keech, William R., 1986. Policy Motivation and Party Differences in a Dynamic Spatial Model of Party Competition. American Political Science Review 80:881–900.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clubb, Jerome, Flannigan, William H., and Zingale, Nancy H., 1980. Realignment: Voters, Parties, and Government in American History. Beverly Hills, California: Sage.Google Scholar
Cosgrave, Patrick. 1978. Margaret Thatcher: A Tory and Her Party. London: Hutchinson.Google Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Eckstein, Harry. 1975. Case Study and Theory in Political Science. In Handbook of Political Science, vol. 7: Strategies of Inquiry, ed. Greenstein, Fred I. and Polsby, Nelson W.. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.Google Scholar
Finer, Samuel E., Berrington, H. B., and Bartholomew, D. J.. 1961. Backbench Opinion in the House of Commons, 1955–1959. London: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Fisher, Nigel. 1973. Ian Macleod. London: Andre Deutsch.Google Scholar
Frohlich, Norman, Oppenheimer, Joe A., Smith, Jeffrey, and Young, Oran R.. 1978. A Test of Downsian Voter Rationality: 1964 Presidential Voting. American Political Science Review 72:178–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilmour, Ian. 1971. The Body Politic. London: Hutchinson.Google Scholar
Gould, Bryan. 1985. Socialism and Freedom. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Stuart, and Jacques, Martin, eds. 1983. The Politics of Thatcherism. London: Lawrence & Wishart.Google Scholar
Hattersley, Roy. 1987. Choose Freedom: The Fut for Democratic Socialism. London: Michael Joseph.Google Scholar
Hoffman, John. 1964. The Conservative Party in Opposition, 1945–1951. London: MacGibbon & Kee.Google Scholar
Kavanagh, Dennis. 1987. Thatcherism and British Politics. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
King, Anthony. 1983. Margaret Thatcher: The Style of a Prime Minister. In The British Prime Minister, 2d ed., ed. King, Anthony. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Kinnock, Neil. 1986. Making Our Way. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Party, Labour. 1987. Britain Will Win: Labour Manifesto. London: author.Google Scholar
Miller, Arthur H., and Wattenberg, Martin P.. 1985. Throwing the Rascals Out: Policy and Performance Evaluations of Presidential Candidates, 1952–1980. American Political Science Review 79:359–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norton, Philip. 1987. Mrs. Thatcher and the Conservative Party: Another Institution “Handbagged?” In Thatcherism: Personality and Politics, ed. Minogue, Kenneth and Biddis, Michael. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Norton, Philip, and Aughey, Arthur. 1981. Conservatives and Conservatism. London: Temple Smith.Google Scholar
Poole, Keith T., and Rosenthal, Howard. 1984. The Polarization of American Politics. Journal of Politics 46:1061–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poole, Keith T., and Rosenthal, Howard. 1985. A Spatial Model for Legislative Roll Call Analysis. American Journal of Political Science 29:357–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabinowitz, George. 1978. On the Nature of Political Issues: Insights from a Spatial Analysis. American Journal of Political Science 22:793–817.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabinowitz, George. 1986. The Future of Multi-Dimensional Scaling and Spatial Modeling. Roundtable presentation, annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington.Google Scholar
Riddell, Peter. 1983. The Thatcher Government. Oxford: Martin Robertson.Google Scholar
Rokeach, Milton. 1968. Beliefs, Attitudes, and Values. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Rokeach, Milton. 1973. The Nature of Human Values. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Rokeach, Milton. 1979. Understanding Human Values: Individual and Societal. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Rose, Richard. 1964. Parties, Factions, and Tendencies in Britain. Political Studies 12:33–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Searing, Donald D. 1978. Measuring Politicians'Values: Administration and Assessment of a Ranking Technique in the British House of Commons. American Political Science Review 72:65–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Utley, T. E. 1978. The Significance of Mrs. Thatcher. In Conservative Essays, ed. Cowling, Maurice. London: Cassell.Google Scholar
Wapshott, Nicholas, and Brock, George. 1983. Thatcher. London: Macdonald & Company.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.