Key words

Age of affluence

The period of consumer prosperity and rising liveing standards from 1950-1973-sometimes known as the long post war boom

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Apartheid

Term used in the Republic of South Africa before 1994 to define the policy of racial separation

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BSE

Bovine spongiform encephalitis, an incurable disease in cattle that destroys the nervous system. An outbreak of BSE in the 1990's caused major disruption to British agriculture

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Butskellism

Term invented by economists to describe consensus centrist policies merging the ideas of conservative moderates, symbolised by R.A.Butler and labour moderates symbolised by Hugh Gaitskell.

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Balance of payments

The relationship between government expenditure and income, particularly in terms of imports and exports

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Big Bang

The deregualtion of the London stock exchange 27th October 1986

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Clause Four

The clasue in the Labour party constitution committing the party to nationalisation

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competitiveness

term used by economists to measure the degree of economic efficiency in free competition with other economies

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Collectivist policies

Policies based on the idea of government intervention in the economy and society

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Decolonialisation

The process by which colonial powers gave up control and granted national independence to former colonies

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Deflationary pressures

Usually caused by government policies to fight against the dangers of inflation, deflating the economy by cutting borrowing and spending

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Demographic change

Changes in population, including birth and death rates, generational changes and patterns of population movement

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Devaluation

action to reduce the value of the pound sterling in relation to other currencies such as the US dollar

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Deregualation

removing government controls and allowing greater competition. In the 1980s there was a deregualtion of the financial markets as well as in pther areas asuch as public transport

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Detente

term used to define attempts to limit the dangers of the cold war by reducing tensions and improving relations between the soviet block and the west

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Devolution

allowing a degree of self government to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Devolution has also been proposed for regions within England

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EEC

European Economic Community or common market formed by the treaty of Rome 1957 created by the big six (France,West Germany,Italy,Belgium,netherlands and Luxembourg. The EEC became the EU in 1992

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EFTA

Eurpoean Free Trade Area formed in 1959 member states were (Britain,Denmark,Norway, Sweden, Austria,Poland and Switzerland

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Eurosceptic

people in Britain opposed to any steps towards further European integration or who demanded renegotiations for the terms of Britain's membership

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EU

European Union the name of the EEC after the treaty of Maastricht in 1992

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Falklands Factor

the effect of the victory in the 1982 falklands war in boosting popularity of the government

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First-past-the-post-system

an electoral system in which seats are won by a simple majority not by proportional representation

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Flying Pickets

mass picketing taken by bus to the scene of industrial disputes in order to add pressure on workers to join strikes

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Gross Domestic Product

term for the measurement of the national wealth by adding together the value of all economic production

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Hard Left

term used in the 1970s and 1980s to define extreme socialist movements within the labour party such as the militant tendency

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Infrastructure

term used to define the framework of a modern industrial economy such as roads, railways, telecommunications, power stations and public utilities

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Long post war Boom

the period of prosperity and rising living standards in Britain and Europe after the second world war from 1950-1973

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Mass Picketing

large groups of picketers (strikers who would stand outside workplaces and try to persuade other workers to join the strike) organised to intimidate workers and try to force workplaces to shut down by preventing access

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Monetarism

Monetarist ideas were particularly associated with yhr chicago school of economists led by milton friedman. Monetarism proposed strict controls over the supply of money in order to combat inflation

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National service

complulsary military service by young males for two years from the age of 18. National service was introduced in 1947 and was abandoned in 1960

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NATO

the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, a military organisation formed in 1949 under american leadership to defend the west against souviet threats of communism

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Negative Equity

Term used when house prices fell and a homeowner is paying more for a mortgage than could be obtained by selling the property. This was a particular problem in the economic recession in Britain the early 1990s

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New Commonwealth

countries such as India, pakistan and West Indies and Bangladesh were the countries who gained independence from Britain after 1945 as opposed to the old white dominations such as Australia candada and new zeland

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Night of the long knives

name for the Harold Macmillan cabinet shuffle in 1962 in which 1/3 of his cabinet was sacked

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OMOV

One member one vote was the change to labour constitiution in 1993 giving the vote on party matters individual members of the party. This measure reduced the power of the trade unions because it ended the former system of block voting

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One Nation Tories

name first used in the 19th century by conservatives wanting to promote centrist policies to appeal to broad sections of society not just traditional supporters of conservativism. The one nation group of conservative MPs was formed in 1950

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Prices and incomes policy

Government policy to combat inflation by restricting wage rises and price increases through voluntary agreements between workers and employers.

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