Atlas / Comparisons / Institutional Revolutionary Party vs Thatcherism
Institutional Revolutionary Party and Thatcherism
Measured distance across six axes
Different families with real common ground. They agree within three points on CU, SC, ID. They diverge by eight points or more on EC.
Axis by axis
| Axis | PRI | Thatcherism | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | +01 | +09 | 8 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | +04 | +06 | 2 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| AU · Organisation of power | +08 | +02 | 6 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +07 | +05 | 2 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| ID · Rule of membership | +03 | +03 | 0 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| CH · Method and tempo | −04 | +03 | 7 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
Each axis runs from −10 to +10; the distance is the straight-line separation across all six at once, out of a maximum of 49.0. How the scoring works →
The evidence behind the widest gaps
A distance figure is worth nothing unless the scores behind it can be checked. These are the artefacts supporting the axes that separate these two most.
PRI · EC +01
Coded +1: the same party redistributed land, nationalised oil and then signed NAFTA and privatised.
- Documented act or statuteOil was nationalised in 1938; the banks were nationalised in 1982 and reprivatised from 1991.
- Documented act or statuteNAFTA entered force in 1994 under a PRI president.
Thatcherism · EC +09
Deep privatisation and financial deregulation places this near the market pole.
- Documented act or statuteTelecoms, gas, water, electricity, steel and airports were sold between 1984 and 1990.
- Documented act or statuteCouncil housing was sold to tenants at statutory discounts from 1980.
What this comparison does not establish
Proximity means similarity of stated position. It carries no claim about competence, circumstance, scale of operation, or what either organisation actually did to the people under it. Two organisations can sit close together and produce entirely different histories, because those things are not on any axis and could not be.
Institutional Revolutionary Party
1929– · Mexico
A party built to institutionalise a revolution and end military coups, which then held the presidency for seventy-one consecutive years.
Thatcherism
1979–1990 · Britain
Roll back the state, break union power, sell public assets, restore the authority of law, order and family.
Distance is not the whole answer. Two organisations can sit the same distance apart for entirely different reasons, and the reason is the content of any claim about them. Open the comparison in the atlas to weight the axes yourself.
Open in the atlas