Atlas / Comparisons / Thatcherism vs Xi-era CCP
Thatcherism and Xi-era CCP
Measured distance across six axes
Different families with real common ground. They agree within three points on CU. They diverge by eight points or more on EC, AU.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Thatcherism | Xi-era CCP | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | +09 | −02 | 11 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | +06 | +08 | 2 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| AU · Organisation of power | +02 | +10 | 8 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +05 | +10 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| ID · Rule of membership | +03 | +07 | 4 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CH · Method and tempo | +03 | −02 | 5 | 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 · 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.
Xi-era CCP · EC −02
Most output and employment are private, but party committees sit inside firms and strategic sectors are state-held. Coded just left of centre.
- Comparative datasetPrivate firms account for the large majority of urban employment and of new job creation.
- Documented act or statuteThe 2018 company law revision required party organisations inside firms above a size threshold.
Thatcherism · AU +02
Coded +2: parliamentary throughout, with a sharply strengthened central executive.
- Documented act or statuteTrade union legislation between 1980 and 1990 progressively restricted secondary action and required ballots.
Xi-era CCP · AU +10
At the ceiling. Term limits removed, no independent judiciary, no lawful opposition, comprehensive surveillance.
- Documented act or statuteThe presidential two-term limit was removed from the constitution in 2018.
- Documented act or statuteNo political party other than the CCP and its eight sanctioned satellites may contest power.
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.
Xi-era CCP
2012– · China
Party leadership over everything, national rejuvenation, common prosperity, and discipline of private capital.
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