Atlas / Comparisons / Thatcherism vs US Republican Party
Thatcherism and US Republican Party
Measured distance across six axes
The same broad family. They agree within three points on EC, CU, AU, ID. No axis separates them by eight points or more.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Thatcherism | GOP | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | +09 | +06 | 3 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | +06 | +06 | 0 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| AU · Organisation of power | +02 | +03 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +05 | 00 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| ID · Rule of membership | +03 | +04 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| CH · Method and tempo | +03 | −03 | 6 | 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.
Thatcherism · CH +03
Coded +3: constitutional in method and deliberately confrontational in execution.
- Documented act or statuteThe 1984–85 miners' strike was prepared for by stockpiling coal in advance.
GOP · CH −03
Coded strongly incremental at the institutional level: the party operates through courts, legislatures and elections.
- Documented act or statuteIts most consequential recent victories were achieved through judicial appointment and state legislation.
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.
Thatcherism
1979–1990 · Britain
Roll back the state, break union power, sell public assets, restore the authority of law, order and family.
US Republican Party
1854– · United States
Limited federal government, lower taxes, strong defence, religious and family traditionalism, gun rights.
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.
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