The New Right - 1979 or 2013?

1979 or 2013? I wrote this in 1995

 

In what ways has the New Right criticised the nature of democratic decision making?  How do these criticisms compare with the marxist critique of democratic decision making?

 

            When the Thatcher Government came into power in 1979  there was a distinct shift from a corporatist style of government which had been in place for most of the 60s and 70s.  This was seen as a move in the 'right' direction by the members of the New Right who were concerned about how and by whom decisions were being made. The New Right were critical of the way that interested groups were being given a privileged position in the decision making which they felt should be left to the democratically elected representatives. They further felt that there were processes in the democratic decision making that were instrumental in contributing to the stagnation of the economy by their over interference.  This, coupled with what they saw as an encroachment of their individual freedoms and the over bureaucratic unelected state machine,  made them look hard at areas which could be brought into line with their liberal ideas.  Those who followed the marxist tradition of thought on the other hand saw the nature of democratic decision making predominantly in the light of capitalism and how it  effected the proletariat. They further looked at  how decision making  seemed to be working in the interests of capitalists.  The undermining of local government, deregulation, and QUANGOs were also areas which are criticised both by the New Right and Marxists but for very different reasons.

            The way that Central Government was being influenced by a minority of powerful interest groups was the first area of criticism by the New Right.  They felt that the economy was being stifled by the corporatist style of government which enable groups like the TUC and CBI to influence government policy making.  The liberal thinkers of the New Right felt that the markets should decide how the economy performed and not government intervention.  The tendency of allowing minority groups to influence the way that regulations were formulated which would effect the economy were also criticised by the New Right who put in place union controls to counterbalance the favoured status enjoyed in the 60s and 70s. By curbing trade union power, introducing ballot voting and the decline in a strong manufacturing base , the New Right were able, to a certain extent,  to follow their liberal instincts and allow the economy a free rein.

            The marxist view on the nature of democratic decision making does, like most of the marxist views, have its roots firmly planted in the economy and how the existing capitalistic economy remains in place.  The interaction between the government and interested groups, especially the TUC seem to indicate that the working class would have a voice in the decision making.  This was not found to be so as the economy went into recession and world events came in to play  the welfare plans seem to be scaled down.   The fundamental aspects of a capitalistic society remained as did the inequalities and it was noted by marxist thinkers that the concessions that were made in the corporatist style of government did nothing to redress the balance. This was illustrated by Arblaster in 1987 who gave details of an incident whereby the Labour government in 1975 allowed a foreign oil company to build a refinery on Canvey Islands in Essex despite the local opposition.  This incident showed to the marxist thinkers that the capitalistic concerns  seem to have great bearing on decisions made by democratically elected governments.  So as the end of the 70s approached both the New Right and the Marxists looked towards a different style of government 

 

            The next area of decision making which was attacked by the New Right was what they saw as an over bureaucratic unelected state machine, run by the civil service.  The New Right felt that this unelected body was incapable of  acting in the public interest but were more concerned with the building of power bases which needed ever increasing number of staff to maintain. By building up their own 'empires' and complicating the workings of government the New Right felt that the necessary changes needed to rectify the economy and society as a whole would best be done by the democratically voted in representatives and not entrenched civil servants. The criticism of the civil service went further as the New Right felt that they employed compromise and consensus when decisions were being made instead of positive action.  The emphasis on a minority representation was not something that the New Right wanted but what they saw as an elected majority making decisions. With the need to free the economy and allow the individual to attain his own potential whilst curbing the excesses of the state seemed to the New Right paramount.

 

            Those with a marxist view did not see the New Right's  criticism of unelected bodies involved in running the state in quite the same way.  Whilst the New Right went ahead with dismantling many of the QUANGOs which they saw as unelected bodies regulating and inhibiting liberal freedom, the Marxists criticised the placement of  New Right thinkers in senior positions in the QUANGOs which remained.  This further illustrated to them that capitalist interests would be at the forefront and plurality of interests would be ignored.

 

            The New Right  next turned its attention to democratic decision making by the elected representatives.  The New Right, in liberal tradition, felt that by voting for a certain individual to represent them (on a reduced scale) this would  leave the individual to determine his own destiny with the resources he has (voting with their pockets).

 

            " The free enterprise economy is the true counterpart of democracy:..."

            (Powell, 1969, p.33)

 

            The New Right felt that the elected Government should restrict itself to maintaining individual rights, (especially to own capital),  law, order and defence, and maintain a limited welfare state designed to help not permanently maintain the less able. The New Right were disappointed during the 80s with the increase of state spending on welfare provision and remained critical of  what they saw as the 'Nanny State'. 

 

            Although unable to curb what they saw as representatives placating the voters by increasing welfare provision, the New Right were able to change some functions of democratic decision making . By combining the liberal traditional view of 'rolling back the state' with the conservative tradition of strong central government the New Right aimed its next criticism at the nature of local government decision making.  With the scaling down of local housing provision, and the right to buy policy one area of local control was taken out of local hands and placed in central government hands.  The move to reduce the local government involvement in education by the introduction of grant maintained schools and a National Curriculum allowed the New Right to curb what they saw as excessive democracy by the masses.  By removing areas of democratically elected local representatives the New Right had followed their principle that 'democracy is to adults what chocolate is to children: endlessly tempting; harmless in small doses; sickening in excess' (Marquand 1988, p78)

 

            This  move from local control of the education system and the introduction of a National Curriculum led to some writers in the marxist tradition to look at how the central government would be making decisions on what would be best for the future capitalistic workforce.  The idea that the government, who would look to the interests of the capitalists,   would be able to determine what working class children would learn which in turn would then enable them to produce workers that would benefit the capitalist economy. They saw this as another way in which the interests of capitalists were being catered for to the detriment or even exploitation of the masses.

             The nature of democratic decision making in Britain has come in for criticism from both the New Right and from the perspective of the marxist tradition.  The New Right see the state as something which needs to be dismantle in part and reassembled in a way which would lead to less interference in individual rights whilst maintaining law order and defence.  They further wanted to see the economy operating from a more  liberal than conservative tradition, unhindered by regulation. It was also important to them to reduce the welfare state provision to more of a safety net than a way of life.  Those who think in the marxist tradition criticised  the democratic decision making but cited different areas which they felt had tipped the balance further toward capitalism. The deregulation of industry which left the worker vulnerable and the centralisation of government which reduced the power of local government.  The New Right and Marxist both looked at the unelected bodies and saw different things, the New Right wanted  a scaling down, the marxist saw the placement in senior positions of New Right thinkers, which they see as a further move to the right with the gap between the haves and the have nots.  Many of the criticisms that have been put forward by the New Right have been acted upon but some areas like welfare provision appear to be a target to be aimed at.