Atlas / Comparisons / Social Liberalism vs Thatcherism
Social Liberalism and Thatcherism
Measured distance across six axes
Opposed programmes with little shared ground. They agree within three points on SC. They diverge by eight points or more on EC, CU, AU, ID, CH.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Rawlsian liberalism | 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 | −06 | +06 | 12 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| AU · Organisation of power | −06 | +02 | 8 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +02 | +05 | 3 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| ID · Rule of membership | −07 | +03 | 10 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CH · Method and tempo | −07 | +03 | 10 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
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.
Rawlsian liberalism · EC +01
Coded +1: market economy with substantial redistribution.
- Programme textA Theory of Justice (1971) permits inequality only where it benefits the least advantaged.
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.
Rawlsian liberalism · CU −06
Coded −6: equal basic liberties as lexically prior to everything else.
- Programme textThe first principle of justice takes priority over the distributive one in Rawls's ordering.
Thatcherism · CU +06
Coded +6: an explicit programme of moral restoration alongside the economic one.
- Documented act or statuteSection 28, enacted in 1988, prohibited local authorities from promoting homosexuality.
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.
Social Liberalism
1971– · Global North
Equal basic liberties first, then fair equality of opportunity, then inequalities only where they benefit the worst off.
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