Karteikarten
Key Terms
Karten in diesem Stapel (30)
- 1One Nation ToriesThe reformist policy agenda of Conservative ministers like Macmillan and Butler had many similarities with the policies of Labour thinkers like Crosland and Gaitskell. Butskellism also a label coined for these similarities. A real ideological gulf didn't open between the parties until the mid-70s.
- 2EECThe European Economic Community, an economic union, often known as the Common Market. Established by the Treaty of Rome in '57. Its 6 founder members were France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux countries. It became the EU in '92.
- 3ProductivityEfficiency, i.e. getting more produced per worker, per shift, per hourly wage. In this way, costs are reduced, profits are increased and workers are freed up for other uses.
- 4CompetitivenessThe ability to match rival producers in terms of the price and quality of goods and the costs of making them.
- 5Welfare stateThe name commonly used to sum up the reforms carried through by the Labour government after '45, including the NHS and the system of social insurance. Critics of the welfare state often use the term 'welfarism' to definre what they consider to be an unhealthy dependence on help provided by the state.
- 6NationalisationState ownership of key industries. The demand for the state to control 'the commanding heights of the economy' had been a central principle of the Labour Party from its beginning. Clause 4 of the party's constitution spelled out the commitment to nationalisation. After '45, the Attlee government nationalised many key industries.
- 7Run on the poundA term describing a rapid fall in the value of the pound in international currency markets, especially in relation to the US dollar. (E.g. after Suez Crisis)
- 8'Stop-go' economicsThe economics of 'stop-go' derived its name from the tensions between an expanding economy, with low interest rates and rising customer spending ('go') and the results of the economy over-heating, with wages and imports exceeding productivity and exports, necessitating a deliberate slowing down, or deflating of the economy ('stop') through higher interest rates and spending cuts.
- 9SterlingA term used by economists for the British currency - the pound sterling.
- 10Unilateral disarmamentThe policy of renouncing use and possession of nuclear weapons without waiting for any international consultation or agreement.
- 11Night of the Long KnivesA label given by journalists to Macmillan's cabinet reshuffle in July '62, comparing the reshuffle to the original 'Night of the Long Knives' in '34 when Hitler murdered many of his own supporters including the SA chief Ernst Roehm. In Macmillan's purge, he sacked 7 senior ministers including his chancellor, Selwyn Lloyd.
- 12New CommonwealthThose countries which had recently gained independence - India, Pakistan, the West Indies etc. - as compared to the 'Old Commonwealth' countries like New Zealand, Australia, Canada and South Africa. The term was a useful, indirect way of differentiating between non-white and white populations.
- 13InfrastructureThe physical environment of a modern developed society including the network of communications, such as: roads; railways; airports and telecommunications; the industrial base; public buildings; schools; housing stock.
- 14GDPGross Domestic Product - a term used by economists for the total value of a nation's economy.
- 15Prices and incomes policy.Government intervention to set limits on price rises and to call for wage restraint in negotiations between unions and remployers. In '66, the Wilson government set up the Prices and Incomes Board to implement this.
- 16'Wildcat' strikesSudden, unofficial local disputes begun without reference to the national leadership.
- 17StagflationA word invented by economists to describe the unusual combination of inflation and stagnant economic growth (which produces unemployment) occuring at the same time.
- 18Parliamentary private secretary (PPS)A job carried out by a junior MP. The main role of a PPS is to keep the PM in touch with backbench opinion.
- 19OPECThe Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, a cartel formed under the leadership of Saudi Arabia to protect the interests of oil-exporting countries from the power of the advanced industrial economies. The OPEC countries agreed to fix levels of production in order to prevent prices from falling too low when oil supplies were plentiful.
- 20Working majorityEnough votes in the House of Commons to defeat all other parties even if they combine together. If this is not possible, the situation is known as a 'hung parliament'. 1974 was the first time there had been a hung parliament in modern times.
- 21Flying picketsBusloads of activists sent to the scene of local disputes to support strikers by pressuring workers to walk out and by blockading places of work to force closures. Flying pickets were often accused of intimidation and violence.
- 22CollectivistAn approach to government and society that stresses the importance of the general good and the necessity for state intervention (when Thatcher came to power this drew to a close).
- 23MonetarismA economic theory promoted by Milton Friedman and the 'Chicago School' of economists. They argued that the best way for governments to control inflation was by restraint of government spending and borrowing and, above all, strict curbs on the money supply.
- 24'Wet'A derisive nickname given to a member of the Conservative Party by Thatcher and her supporters for being soft and squeamish about the social consequences of monetarist economic policies.
- 25'Dry'A nickname given to Conservatives who were firm and uncompromising in their support for monetarism.
- 26Mass picketingA method by which strikers could prevent industry from operating normally during a strike Mass pickets could put pressure on non-strikers and could blockade plants to stop transport arriving or leaving. It was used effectively in the Grunwick dispute of 1977 and was a key tactic for Arthur Scargill and the NUM in 1984.
- 27DeregulationThe loosening of controls on banks and financial markets. In Britain and the U.S., deregulation fitted in with political trends in favour or capitalism and free enterprise. There was a massive boom in investment banking and financial speculation. The issue of deregulation became very controversial in the Great Crash of 2008.
- 28Big Bang27 October 1986, the day the London Stock Exchange was deregulated, opening the way for computer screen trading and replacing the 'old boys' network' with free competition. The Big Bang is credited with restoring London's position as a world financial centre.
- 29North-south divideA term frequently used to express the difference between the prosperous south of Britain and the less prosperous north. It is not a completely accurate view: many areas in northern England look like the prosperous suburban 'south'; many areas of deprivation in London and parts of the south-west reflect the economic and social problems associated with the 'north'.
- 30King CoalDerived from the nursery rhyme about Old King Cole, this term reflected the historic importance of coalmining as Britain's industrial development. Since the mid-19th century, Britain had been the world's biggest producer and exporter of coal. At its peak, the coal and power industry employed 400,000. The role of the miners in the 1926 general strike and in the battle against Edward Heath's government in 1974 gave them a special status in the union movement.
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- A Levels History (Dates/evidence cards) Karteikarten am Key Terms, erstellt von lizzie.lambrou am 18/03/2014.
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- lizzie.lambrou
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