Critically assess the postwar consensus thesis Essay

Critically assess the postwar consensus thesis - Essay Example There was however, some conflicts noted between the parties concerning the postwar consensus. The parties had consent to similar principles as well as aims but had differences in styles and emphasis (Bogdanor, 2011, para 1-9). This paper therefore has the focus of analyzing the concept of post war consensus with attention on the policies inside this concept as well as understanding the collapse of the concept as reviewed through scholarly works. Much of the evolution in the concept is attributed to in differences postulated by partisan political parties as well as the administration over the period. The concept of welfare state comprehensive in Great Britain dates back to mid Second World War as was developed in the reposts of William Biveridge in 1942. This is therefore the postulated foundation upon which the concept of postwar consensus is claimed to be built. Therefore, the policy formulations that resulted from the government of the labor party formed a basis on which the consen sus was formed on. The government undertook and implemented various policies which were distinct to the leadership history of the country. The conservative party had great influence in the industrial charter, which followed the successful formation of the previous government by the labor party. Moreover, the acknowledgement of the various policy frameworks by the party as they were designed and implemented by the party in power made the conservative party to reserve many of the policies during the 1947 industrial charter (Anon, nd, p. 217-222). Great Britain categorizes the historical perspective into two phases which span through the consensus period as well as the period after the consensus was broken and the period runs to today. The consensus period spun the years 1945 to 1979 after which the post consensus period set in and has been up to the current period (Matthijs, 2008, p. ii). After the end of the Second World War, the consensus that settled in and had a guiding commitment to full employment, industries were nationalized, government undertook to control the economic demand through application of the Keynesian techniques. Moreover, the government adopted the social welfare in a system of self-sponsored technique. The period after the election in 1945 saw the labor party form the government and adapted reformation policies and not revolutionary policies (McCulloch, 1985, p. 465). Economist and other analysts interpreted the system of government adopted by the labor party government as reformists as against revolutionalists. Non-revolutionary alliances of trade unions as well democratic socialists were the foundations, which formed the Labour party. The governance structure that succeeded the election of the Labour party to office mainly comprised of the political class of persons who had gotten into politics in the early 20th century. This period, which span across the years 1945 to 1951, was a characteristic period in the history of the country as it is credited to be the period in which many of the legislations in Britain were formulated. The government also placed policies which oversaw many industries nationalized until the 1980s. The welfare state as was a characteris