State Power and Ideology in Britain: Mrs Thatcher's Privatization Programme

Abstract

State‐centred theory, a leading exemplar of the new institutionalism, assumes the separation of state from society and objectivity from subjectivity. This epistemological stance supports a structural analysis which holds that the state is an actor in its own right, that the state has distinctive interests, and that state capacity depends on strong institutions and weak societal opposition. Yet the case of the Thatcher governments’ideologically motivated privatization programme challenges the statists’hypotheses and epistemology. Rather, the making of British privatization policy supports the view that the way political actors form and use ideas is important in explaining state power and in defending the liberal democratic vision of mankind as the maker of history.

Crisis and the Structural Transformation of the State: Interrogating the Process of Change

“…If this argument is accepted, it should come as no surprise that those who concern themselves principally with the realm of ideas tend to emphasise the radicalism, exceptionalism and relatively rapid nature of the Thatcherite 'break' with the past (for instance , Hall 1988;Letwin 1992;O'Shea 1984;Wolfe 1991) whilst those focusing on the consequences of policy and institutional outcomes and effects more generally, should emphasise continuity, incrementalism and either enduring inertia or cumulative radicalisation (Kerr 1998;Kerr et al 1997). The process of institutional change following a period of crisis is likely to be much slower than the process by which the ideas animating and informing policy may change.…”

Neoliberalisms in British Politics

“…These 'unidimensional' (to use Marsh's phrase), almost journalistic accounts of Thatcherism granted Thatcher almost unlimited agency in accounting for Thatcherite policy change and neglected to analyse any of the deeper structural factors at play in the emergence of Thatcherism. A second kind of uni-dimensional account of Thatcherism were the ideology-focused accounts put forward by, for example, O'Shea (1984) andWolfe (1991). In these accounts 'ideology' was taken as the key explanatory variable in relation to the unfolding of the Thatcher project, and the changes wrought by Thatcherism in British society were understood as a result of the hegemonic victory of the ideas of the New Right, particularly among key public intellectuals, who subsequently acted to disseminate New Right ideology to the masses and, thereby, secure for Thatcherism a strong popular base.…”

Constructing the Market: Commercialization and Privatization in the Royal Mail

“…It is argued that the prospect of 'exit' (customers withdrawing their services) acts as an imperative for change in its own right (Tiebout 1956). In addition, some commentators have seen the ideology of the New Right and its rhetoric of choice -let alone the choice mechanisms themselves -as the core element of the state's reform along market lines (Wolfe 1991). The tendency to reify 'the market' and its strategic character is well documented by many critics of New Right public choice theory (see Dunleavy 1991).…”

“…Curtis (1995) is right to caution against assuming the fragmentation per se of the political along the lines suggested by Miller and Rose (1990). In Royal Mail, the political traditions and legacy of the British state, combined with what Wolfe (1991) calls the hegemonic status of New Right ideology, has created a tight financial relationship and a culture of short-termism. Since this mitigates against the strategic programmes for change, actors in the organization have established counterpoints through interpretations of the nature of the external 'market threat' which differ from those of the Treasury.…”