2. Don Slater (1998) discusses the
‘public/private’ dichotomy
• Initially he sets the scene how this social
distinction emerged in Ancient Greece, where
only propertied, male, free citizens (a small
proportion of the population) could participate in
the highly esteemed public realm.
• Having said this, in the UK younger people,
women and the ‘working classes’ only obtained
the vote (Franchise) relatively recently…

3. Public v Private
• Slater’s complex account identifies some of
the underpinning ideas that still influence the
public state’s relationship with the private
sphere of the home.
• Discuss in small groups how you think
has blurred the
distinction between
the public and the
private world

4. Ideology or Pragmatics?
• Kavanagh claims that The Labour Party owes
more to Methodism rather than Marxism.
• Kavanagh goes on to state that British Party
Politics tends towards the pragmatic rather than
the ideological.
• Politians on all sides a wary of using the term
‘ideological’ in describing their approach, in order
to avoid accusations of ‘dogma’.
• Never-the-less, certain enduring ideas can be
found shaping party political discourse and ideas.

5. Statecraft
Oakeshott is critical of a ‘perverse’ ideological
approach to politics, likening it to learning to
cook from a cookery book rather than learning
through practice.

6. Left and Right
• A familiar ideological classification is the left-
right dimension.
• It originates from the French Revolution of
1789: The propertied kings allies sat on his
Right, while his opponents, the commoners
sat on his left.
• Over time this dimension has evolved into the
following slide.

7. Far Left Centre- Left Centre Centre- Right Far Right
Political spectrum: the standard linear model
Socialists Liberal Conservatives Ultraconservatives
Communists Liberals Conservatives Fascists
Radicals Reactionaries

8. If you stand for nothing; you’ll fall for
anything
• Despite shying away from wanting to be
associated with underpinning ideologies,
many politicians like to claim that their actions
are rooted in values and principles.
• In small groups try to list what you think these
parties stand for:
Labour Party Liberal Party Conservative Party

9. Kavanagh identifies these four
tensions between political approaches
both between and within parties
(There are others too!)
• State management of the economy versus the
free market.
• Collective provision of services versus more
individual choice
• Promoting greater equality of income versus
encouraging meritocracy
• Preferring low rates of income tax over boosting
public spending

10. Was there a consensus?
• Some authors refer to post war period from
1945 to about 1970 as the ‘consensus’ period.
Some contest this term.
• The consensus period describes the tendency
of alternating Labour and Conservative
governments to implement broadly similar
policies and share similar ideologies for
example Keynsian economic policy, state
owned services and full employment.

11. Conservativism
• Post war Conservativism accepted a
‘paternalistic’ and ‘pragmatic’ role for the
state to correct the harshness of market
failure.
• The Conservatives also recognise that their
policies must promote full employment and
welfare (addressing Beveridge’s ‘5 Giants’) to
win the expanding working class vote.

12. Thatcher’s ‘Conviction’ Politics
• Following Margaret Thatcher’s election as
Conservative Leader in 1975, the Conservatives
began to break with the ‘consensus’ tradition.
• Influenced by ‘The New Right’, Thatcherite
politicians claimed Conservative ideology and
policy had slipped to far into the centre and even
towards socialism.
• The consequences for the British people was
welfare dependency and a ‘soft’ ‘nanny state’.

13. The New Right rebadges Liberalism
• The New Right Conservatives began adopting many of
the ideological values of the 19th Century Liberal Party.
• Although it tends to be referred to as ‘neo liberalism’
to distinguish its nuanced qualities from the 19th
Century brand.
• During the 1970’s The Conservative’s moved
ideologically to ‘the right’ while Labour moved
ideologically to ‘the left’.
• This shift proved problematic for Labour throughout
the 1980’s prompting a rebranding and distancing
under Blair as ‘New Labour’

14. Boom and Bust
In times of recession, there is disagreement as to how to alleviate the
problem.
1.Keyensian approach, as in the post war consensus is to borrow money to
stimulate growth; promoted through full employment.
2. Monetarist approach of Friedman and Hayek: Let the market decide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk

15. The Working Class and Labour
• Throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s a number
of factors affected the appeal of traditional
left-wing Labour politics.

16. New Labour
Tony Blair sought to lead the New Labour Party
and accepted many established neoliberal ideas
including equality of opportunity rather than of
outcome, benefits to encourage people into
work and Every Child Matters.

17. Read Kavanagh pages 70-75
• What are 8 key facts about Liberal Ideology?
• What are 8 key facts about Conservative
Ideology?
• What are 8 key facts about socialist Ideology?

18. Liberal Ideology: “liberty equality
fraternity” (See Spicker for more)
• Individualism
• Equality
• Rights i.e. to ‘Freedom’, ‘Property’
• Pluralism – diversity through choice
• People are ‘rational’ and make their own best
choices.
• Economic freedom to contract
• Varied with regard to extent of state intervention
• NB- USA critiques of ‘liberalism’ position it where
the UK would position Labour/Socialist ideology.

19. Conservative Ideology/Tradition (see
Pinker for more)
• Sceptical of the ‘enlightenment’ (1700’s) challenge to tradition:
Against ‘rampant’ individualism and state control.
• Human beings are like naughty children.
• Socialisation and civic responsibility comes from traditional
institutions such as the church and family.
• Ambiguous regarding ‘market forces’.
• Organic, natural, ‘common sense’ view of society: All things Bright
and Beautiful:
The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them high and lowly,
And ordered their estate
• Tension between advocating for a small state but centralised,
powerful state. Is this possible?

20. Socialist Ideology (see Dean for more)
• Humanistic
• Collectivist
• Egalitarian
• Opposed to industrial capitalism (Owners v
Workers)
• Many Marxists are critical of ‘the state’ holding
that it serves the devisive purposes of capitalism.
• Historical development through conflict.
• Softened ‘revisionist/gradualist’ approach based
on political reform.

21. The Third Way (see Powell for more)
• Developed by British Sociologist Anthony
Giddens; adviser to Tony Blair.
• Traditional Political Ideologies are ‘out of
date’.
• Globalisation and complexity a new ‘third’;
neither left-wing nor right-wing response.
• Draws upon economic liberalism,
communitarianism, opportunity for all and
stakeholding.

22. Much of the ethos of The Third Way
can be seen in the manifestation of
Every Child Matters

23. Some conclusions…
• Overtime, political parties have emphasised differing (apparently
contradictory?) aspects of their values and ideology to appeal to
the democratic public.
• Although most of the debate has taken place between Labour and
Conservatives, in recent times both parties borrowed heavily from
19th Century Liberalism:
a) Conservatives as ‘The New Right’
b) Labour as ‘The Third Way’
• The left/right wing distinction can still serve as a useful tool for
analysis in understanding how different parties emphasise
‘individualism’ and ‘collectivism’ among other things.
• Policies such as Every Child Matters and Troubled Families are
influenced by certain political and ideological views as to what
‘individuals’ and ‘families’ should ‘be’ and what the state should or
should not provide…

24. References