The Socio-Economic and Historical Context of UK Government Government of UK & Ireland

International Context Britain’s place in 1945 Britain's changing role in the world Loss of empire & world power status Growing engagement with Europe Is Britain's decline from world power reversing?

Social Context Immigration and growth of ethnic minority Growth in number of older people Changing patterns of family life Decline of working class Changing position of women Explosion in university education, decline of religious practice…..

Economic Context Everything that a gov does depends firstly on its economic success…… Relative economic decline Changing structure of economy Economic globalisation

Social and Economic Context The view from outside –Small –Densely populated –Industrial –Rich –Capitalist –Uniform The View from Inside –Multi-national –North South divide –Urban/Suburb issues –Rich, poor and underclass

Historical Political Context Post 1945 Consensus (1940s-1970s) Consensus breakdown Thatcherism Blair and New Labour A second consensus?

Conclusions No government or system of government operates in a vacuum, shut off from the wider context of history, society, economy and international affairs. This is the context for the future weeks of Government of UK and Ireland – remember the context when you look at each issue!

Conclusions …. Remember that Blair is PM not Thatcher (at least until after ‘top-up fee’s’ bill and Hutton anyway!) Remain cautious about terminology taken to reflect reality- this is rarely the case – more so partial representations.