Does The UK Political System Tend Towards

Conflict Or Consensus Essay, Research Paper

In order to have a stable government it is important to

have consensus.. Consensus is a general

understanding and agreement on fundamental principles.. In politics there are three main types of

consensus, Societal Consensus, Political Consensus and consensus in policy

making.Societal

consensus is overall public opinion, the political beliefs of the public.. Normally most people.s political opinions

are not too diverse, the majority falling somewhere around the centre

ground.. The area of the political

spectrum where the bulk of the public.s opinion lies is called the

consensus.. To get elected, a political

party must also fall in this area, in order to appeal to the public.Therefore

the main political parties all have policies that are similar, as they all want

to appeal to the public.. This is

Political Consensus.. The parties may

still disagree over certain policies or issues, but on key issues their

policies are very similar.. If a party

was to introduce policies that were outside the consensus, they would lose

popularity and would not be elected..

This means that governments often continue the policies of their

predecessor.Consensus

in policy making is the practice of involving other groups in determining

policies, in addition to the cabinet..

This may be Trade Unions, pressure groups or other appropriate group.Historically

Britain has enjoyed consensus politics..

Following the Second World War a consensus between the main political parties

developed.. There was a climate of

co-operation between Labour and Conservatives following their coalition

government during the war and the parties agreed in certain key areas.. Both parties accepted Keynesianism, an

economics system that bridged Capitalism and socialism, arguing for full

employment brought about by government intervention in the economy.. There was cross-party support for the report

by William Beveridge calling for a .Welfare State.The

Labour government of 1945, led by Clement Atlee introduced policies in six key

areas, which became the foundation for the post-war consensus.. These were – the commitment to full

employment, using Keynesian economic ideas to achieve it.. To have a mixed economy, including both

publicly and privately owned industries..

The introduction of a .Welfare State., with the establishment of the NHS

and benefits for those in need.. The

formalisation of links with Trade Unions, involving them in policy making.. The commitment to reducing the gap between

the rich and poor and to help regions with economic problems.. The commitment to NATO and to make Britain a

nuclear power, maintaining close ties to America.In

1951 the Conservative Party was elected and although there were some minor

changes, they continued the policies of the previous Labour Government.. They only had a very small majority and so

had to rule out any unpopular policies..

This meant keeping most of Labours policies.. The Conservative Party leadership was moderate and the more

right-wing MPs were marginalised.. The

Tories therefore had no choice or indeed no desire to change the policies

started by Labour.The

Conservative economic policy was so similar to Labour.s previous one that the

phrase .Butskellism. was coined after R.A. Butler the Tory chancellor and Hugh

Gateskell the chancellor under Labour.. Moderates

succeeded Churchill as Prime Minister and so these consensus policies were

continued.. They remained unchanged when

Labour came to power in 1964.The

consensus policies had remained unchallenged until the 1970.s when they began

to be put under pressure.. When Edward

Heath came to power in 1970, he did so with a commitment to more right-wing

policies, such as curtailing the power of the Unions, reducing state control of

industry and promoting the free market..

However in 1972 as unemployment rose to over one million and his

policies became less popular he did a .U-turn... He abandoned his right-wing policies and adopted more consensus

policies; he even adopted some left-wing policies such as nationalisation.. However despite continued consultation and

involvement of the Unions, it was the Unions who brought down his government in

1974 with the miner strike.This

followed by a labour government, but they only had a tiny majority of 3 seats.. This meant that the Labour government had to

pursue moderate policies despite pressure to introduce radical left-wing

policies.. It had to give up on

Keynesian economics because of economic problems, causing disputes with

Unions.. This led to the .Winter of

Discontent... This was when public

sector workers brought the country to a stand still by widespread strikes.. They were very unpopular and the public

called for Union power to be curbed.This

spelled the e

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