Great+Britain+Pd.+3+Political+and+Economic+Change

__Political and Economic Change__ __Important People__ //japanfocus.org// media type="custom" key="9237112" [] __Economic Policies__
 * Critical Junctures
 * Seventeenth Century Settlement
 * Forced abdication of King James II due to the Glorious Revoltuion (nearly bloodless). This was the last true political revolution in the Britain.
 * This established a constitutional monarchy and the birth of a Protestant state after the removal of Catholic King James.
 * Use of Parliament as a taxation body and commander of the standing army emerged at this time.
 * Beginnings of secular politics emerged.
 * Industrial Revolution and the British Empire
 * Bartering began to be replaced by currency transactions.
 * Agriculture began to be commercialized as technology improved and caused harvesting and growing methods to be more efficient.
 * Britain emerged as an imperialistic world power as it became necessary to obtain more resources for industrialization and production.
 * Being the victor of the Napolenic Wars led to Britain becoming a world military power.
 * Landowners lost power in the government and were replaced by the businessmen and merchants.
 * Deomcracy still remained low with only 7% of the population being able to vote.
 * World Wars, Industrial Strife, and Depression
 * WWI was the impetus for excessive state regulation of industry.
 * The Great Depression was deepened by conflicts between free marketists and interventionist.
 * Political harmony and collectivism was soon ushered in due to the growing fear of deeper depression.
 * Collectivist Consensus
 * A broad consensus on the how the government should be ran was reached after WWII due to the necessity for parties to agree in order for successful rebuilding.
 * Goals of prosperity and reconstruction after the war superceded ideological conflicts.
 * Common policy included the belief that the gap between the rich and the poor should be lessened, national healthcare should be implemented, and there should be an increased focus on public education.
 * These policies laid the foundations for a welfare state to emerge.
 * Margaret Thatcher and the Enterprise Culture
 * Economic stagnation led to a decline in competitiveness in the international market.
 * Margaret Thatcher was convinced that collectivism had drained the economy.
 * The enterprise culture emerged involving tax cuts, reduced funding for social services, and use of government policy to stimulate competition among business.
 * The welfare state began to diminish under Thatcher.
 * New Labour's Third Way
 * Tony Blair and Gordon Brown sought to modernize the Labour party, calling for a "New Labour".
 * Power was devolved to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland under Blair.
 * "Third Way" was introduced by Bliar in order to find a middle ground between Thatcherism and collectivism.
 * This method incorporated the virtues of partnership with business and increased social policies emphasizing rights to welfare assistance for citizens who take the responsibilty to attempt to receive education and formal training.
 * King James I - his ascendence to the thrown in 1603 led to Scotland uniting with England and Wales.
 * King John - oppostion from feudal barons in 1215 led to the development of the Magna Carta, which gave parliament political rights against the monarchy.
 * King James II - his abdication in 1688 was caused by the Glorious Revolution, in which the modern framework for the constitutional traditions of Britain were formed.
 * William and Mary - their rule led to the dominance of the Church of England after James II (a Catholic) was abdicated
 * Queen Victoria - during her rule, Britain engaged in extensive colonialism and imperialism creating a hegemonic power.
 * Llyod George - became Prime Minister during WWI, secured the settlement of the Irish Free State, and was involved in a scandal revolving around the selling of knighthoods.
 * Neville Chamberlain - utilized a policy of appeasement toward Adolf Hitler in order to avoid another World War. However, Hitler broke their agreements, resulting in Chamberlain declaring war on Germany, sparking WWII.
 * Winston Churchill - Prime Minister during WWII, he built a strong relationship with the United States, led the country to victory against Nazi Germany, and coined the term, "Iron Curtain".
 * Margeret Thatcher - she advocated for privatization of industry, reform of trade unions, and reduced social reform spending, which eventually developed into an ideology of government know as "Thatcherism". She closely resembled Ronald Reagan in her mistrust of communism and free-market economic policies.
 * Tony Blair - he attempted to introduce a "third-way" alternative to Thatcherism and collectivism, focusing on a middle ground specifically for economics and social reform. He also attempted to modernize the Labour Party, calling it New Labour, and resigned after controversy over entering the Iraqi War.
 * During and after WWI, economic policy focused on intense state intervention in the conduct of industry.
 * This continued through WWII in order to maximize production for the war effort.
 * However, with the increasing economic downslide caused by loss of former colonies and by the Great Depression, collective consensus emerged and social reform of national healthcare and education arose.
 * Keynesian policies to control unemployment began to be implemented based on the idea that with low unemployment consumers would have more money to spend on products causing production to rise and more people to be employed.
 * During the 1970s, Britain feel into more economic hardship, leading Thatcher to develop her enterprise culture involving privitization of industry, reduced social spending, and reform of trade unions.
 * Neoliberalism occurred as the primary economic policy of Thatcherism encouraging freer markets, privitization, and entrepreneurship.
 * Blair's economic policy attempted to find the middle ground between Thatcherism and collective consensus through his "Third Way".
 * Blair concentrated on eliminating childhood poverty and providing assistance to those attempting to achieve education and training.
 * Cameron's government is still focusing on neoliberalism economic policies; however, several industries remain nationalized including several railroad companies and banks.
 * Due to the current economic crisis facing the world, Cameron is focusing on austerity measures in order to trim the budget, focusing mostly on cutting military spending.

Great Britain Pd. 3 Table of Contents