Explanatory Concepts in Political Science Essay

Since 1979 on that point countenance been dramatic changes in both the bodily structure and organisation of the fag Party. In part, this was in retort to their failure to break finished a general election among 1979 and 1997. However, the change goes much shape up than that and can be perceived as a reflection of the proceed struggle amidst ideologies of different factions within the fellowship. This essay go away first-year try to establish what gaga fag was and what it stood for. Then, scrutinising invigorated-sprung(prenominal) ride, this essay will discus if, how and why the exertion Party changed and identify the key differences between old and new churn.The grasp Party was initi every last(predicate)y established as a companionship to arrest the newly enfranchised working circle in Parliament. Growing bug out of the roil Representation Committee (LRC), the fellowship owed its existence to various deal out union and sociableist organisations. Conse quently, right from its inauguration, the societys primary purpose was to elect MPs that would represent the interests of the unions. Although ostensibly not a committed fondist governmental party, by 1918, the party had included Clause 4 in its election manifesto, the principle of national ownership which committed the party to nationalising land, coal mining, the electricity persistence and the railways as well as declaring their intention to make rates of revenue enhancement steeply progressive to fund a major extension of education and social services.1 Labour soon overtook the Liberals in popularity and rose to be the principle opposition for the Conservatives, forming three governments between 1926 and 1945.Post-war Labour fundamentally recognised the relationship between narrate and society in Britain and introduced a number of reforms in education, social security and welf are in an attempt to lay the foundations for a new, much caring society. The post-war Atlee government sent Labour on a flying towards socialism with commitments to economical planning in an attempt to reduce unemployment, a complicated public and private sector economy and a countrywide welfare system which was endorsed by successive Labour and Conservative governments until 1979 when Thatcherism political theory took over. During this time Labour was widely perceived as being oriented towards a socialistic perspective as the government took responsibility for unemployment, health care and ho employ.After Labours whelm by the Conservatives in the elections of 1979, the party went through a period of considerable internal turmoil that eventually resulted in extensive reform of the structure and organisation of the Labour Party. Since 1979, there have been three distinct phases of change as Old Labour became impudent. These can be defined as The Bennite challenge, Modernisation and untried Labour.The first phase of this, the Bennite challenge led by Tony Benn atte mpted to alter the balance of power within the party. Aided by the leaders of both(prenominal) major swap unions at a special party conference in 1981, the partys left wing activists succeeded in forcing through a number of internal organizational reforms that enhanced the power of grass-roots activists and trade unions in the selection of parliamentary candidates and party leaders. This change meant that the party would like a shot be committed to bringing about a fundamental and irreversible fracture of power and wealth towards working people and their families2. In response, a number of leading parliamentarians and supporters seceded from Labour and founded the Social Democratic Party in 1981. Labour presented a radical manifesto that proposed extensive nationalization of industry, economic planning, unilateral nuclear disarmament, and the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European stinting Community.The result was Labours worst national electoral defeat in more th an than 50 years. It was afterward this defeat that modernisation took dwelling house under the new leader of the Labour Party, Neil Kinnock, a politician who, in spite of his leftist credentials set about re-establishing Labour as a credible national electoral force. Kinnocks modernisation process towards the beginnings of a natural Labour contributed to Labours electoral revival after the trauma of 1983. As well as explicitly rejecting nationalisation as a tool or goal of economic policy, Kinnock set out to crush the revolutionary left by launching a serial of expulsions of supporters of the Militant Tendency3 but it was not sufficient to deprive the Conservatives of their presidency majorities in the general elections of 1987 and 1992.By the time that Blair took the Labour Party leaders in 1994, the leadership had reasserted its authority having introduced prodigious organisational reforms which broadened and centralised the decision making process within the party as well as removing all trace of links with Marxist socialist ideology. Traditionally, there had been a healthy socialist link with the Labour Party through Clause 4. disrespect opposition from many of the Old Labour leaders, the rank and file of the party was insistent on maintaining its left roots right up to the 1990s. In stark contrast to the rest of Europe, which by 1980 had largely rejected a fully-fledged socialist ideology, Labour maintained Clause 4 that sought to maintain its ideology of socialism and nationalisation.Clause 4 of the Labour Partys constitution was an integral part of the partys philosophy and ideology as it marked the party as ardently socialist. Clause 4 is as follows To Secure for the workers by hand or by wiz the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible up the basis of the common ownership of the centre of production, distribution and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration a nd get over of each industry or service.4 The clause is clearly anti-capitalist and commits to replacing capitalist economy with a system of social ownership, justice and planning where more keep is given to the workers. Dearlove and Saunders propose that in application, Old Labour was happy to approve a capitalist economic drift although they sought limited social ownership through nationalisation, limited redistribution or wealth and income through taxation and welfare and limited planning through national agencies. In practise wherefore, Dearlove and Saunders suggest that Labour should have been considered as a social representative party rather than actively pursuing its formal socialist objectives. chase the election of Tony Blair in 1994 as leader of the Labour party, the party see a series of programmatic and organisational changes the party systematically reviewed its policies so as to re-embrace the mixed economy in the tradition of the revisionists of the 1950s. La bour had consistently struggled to fully go through socialism, and reject the capitalist system because of what many critics believed to be a omit of a proper plan of how to implement their socialist ideology and counterchange the capitalist system. Blair took the modernisation of the party to a new level, adopting the American melodic theme of rebranding the party as new. The slogan, New Labour, New Britain was unveiled and stuck as the new party name. Blair believed that the Left had to modernise or die. 5 With the rejection of Clause 4, Blair and the modernisers showed infinitesimal respect for Old Labours sacred cows secernate ownership, economic planning, Keynesian demand management, full employment, tax-and-spend welfarism and close links with the trade unions6 and brought Labour back to win the next General election.New Labour is it ego a contested term. in that location is much debate as to what barely it means. Michael Freeden suggests that the ideological map of Ne w Labour is located somewhere between the three great Western ideological traditions liberalism, conservatism and socialism though it is not equidistant from them all.7 Some suggest New Labour is energy but a market placeing ploy and product of Alistair Campbells PR campaign for Labour in an attempt to win voter turnouts. During the 1997 election campaign, the Conservatives tried and true to convince voters that New Labour was plainly Old Labour in disguise using the New Labour, New Danger slogan.Some political scientists, notably Driver and Martell assert that the political positioning of New Labour is nothing more than Liberal Conservatism. They would argue that New Labour is plainly an extension of Thatcherism inasmuch as it is no different from Thatcherite attempts to blend traditional cautious and degreeical liberal principles. Pointing to Conservative prescriptions regarding education, the family and welfare, they assert that New Labour is simply a progression of Th atcherism. Blair sees New Labour as a new means to an old end, believing that the party has the same values tho is using new ways to achieve these aims.Apart from the rejection of Clause 4, how then is New Labour different from Old Labour? Dearlove and Saunders regard New Labour to be Liberal Socialism. New Labour has rejected its circleed ground socialism in exchange for what many believe to be honorable socialism which has been largely influenced by Blairs own Christian beliefs and the Labour tradition of self help and coarse aid. Dennis and Halsey have defined honorable socialism as a moral community in which license is gained for every member through the sharing of what they have, in equal mutual respect for the shiftdom of all. Where Thatcher sought to temper the free market individualism of neo-liberalism with an emphasis on traditional conservative values Blair has tried to temper the individualism of neo-liberalism with traditional ethical socialist values of equality , fraternity, self improvement and moral rectitude, in an attempt to amalgamate neo-liberal economics and socialist ethics.Whereas Old Labour had been based on the big ideas of socialism and collectivism for the advancement of the working class, New Labour attempts to reconstruct the state with more democracy and individual responsibility based on co-operative self-help and the idea of communitarianism whereby individuals have a responsibility to help themselves and those immediately around them in their community. There is a new emphasis on social cohesion and New Labours attempts to repair the social fabric of society. New Labour is attempting to maintain the dynamic, innovative and efficient aspects and advantages of a liberalised economy whilst trying to exclude the inimical and often inevitable social fragmentation. One aspect of this is the shift from the Old Labour stance on providing a large welfare state as a means of creating a more democratic society to New Labours sma ller welfare state which is based on the principle of hand up, not hand-out and the idea that the community and the individual should exist for each others benefit.The Ethical Socialist ideals are further perpetuated with New Labours belief in stakeholder capitalism the idea that every citizen must be included in the society they live in by being made to looking at they have a long term stake in it using the idea of the welfare state and universal provision of services such as healthcare and education.Unlike Old Labours tension on the interests and needs of the working classes, the trade unions and the poor, New Labour concerns itself with the interests of consumers, curiously middle Britain and a new deal for citizens. Anthony Giddens argues that this is largely in response to the impact of post-materialism. This idea asserts, after a certain level of prosperity has been reached, voters become concerned less with economic issues than with the quality of their lives.8 In order to get the middle England vote, New Labour needed to accommodate for these voters. Giddens too suggests New Labours shift is a reflection of class dealignment and the sort out of the blue collar, working class which meant Labour could no daylong rely on a consistent class bloc to vote for them.New Labour has largely rejected a Keynesian elbow room economy using demand management style that had been characteristic of Old Labour. New Labour has also rejected its former ideology of nationalised industry and public ownership replacing this with a much more free market approach and even privatisation of some former publicly own services such as the London Underground.To argue that there are no discernable differences between Old and New Labour would be both nave and crass. Like most political parties, since its inception, Labour has evolved, ever-changing both its organisation and ideology to reflect changes in society and voters needs. The breakout between the Left and Right has significantly narrowed with New Labour policy and there are undeniable elements of Thatcherism in New Labour although it is certainly not merely an extension of this. Perhaps the most significant change to New Labour, the amendment of Clause 4, can be attributed to class dealignment and the decline of the working class that has shifted Labour far away from its socialist and nationalising policies that apply to provide the core of its ideology. New Labour no longer seeks to nationalise and plan but rather prefers equality of opportunity rather than outcome. New Labour is no longer the preserve of the socialist working class it has been transformed into a party for middle England as much as the workers.1 John Dearlove and Peter Saunders Introduction to British Politics 3rd Edition, regulation 2000 p.394 2 ibid p.3973 John Dearlove and Peter Saunders Introduction to British Politics 3rdEdition, commandment 2000 p.402 4 The former Clause 4 of the Labour Party constitution 5 Tony Bl air, spoken communication to the Part of European Socialists Congress, Malmo, 6 June 1997 6 Stephen Driver and Luke Martell New Labour, Politics after Thatcherism 1998 Polity, p.12 7 Michael Freeden The Ideology of New Labour Political Quarterly 70 (1999) p.48 8 Anthony Giddens The tierce Way The Renewal of Democracy Polity p.19