Consensus(agreement) politics= an agreement between government, parties and the public over values and policies. There was  an agreement between parties about foreign and domestic policies. this Consensus came under strain in 1970s and was challenged by Thatcher from 1979- divisions over the role of the state and the delivery of public services, and over foreign and defence policies, and Britain"s role in the EU.

A third way= partnership between the public and private sectors, instead of the unrestricted free market associated with(tilknyttet, omgås) Thatcher, and the centralised state planning and public service delivery linked with old labour.

The post-war years: the end of empire and the imperial legacy

In 1945 Britain saw itself as a world power. The distinctive features of  Britain"s international position in 1945 were:
1. one of the 3 victorious powers in the second World War
2. possessor of a huge empire
3. having a special relationship with USA: strong cultural and linguistic links between the two anglo-Saxon powers underpinned their cooperation in both world wars.

Lend-Lease agreement= in 1941-it provided a system of credits enabling  Britain to obtain a continnous(uavbrutt-bestandy) supply of American goods and materials  in order to sustain(støtte-opprettholde) its war effort(forsøk-anstrengelse)

Bevin-he was Labour"s Foreign Secretary-patriot-he based his policies on tow principles A) a British foreign policy was vital to world peace. B) Britain still was a great power with important global interests to protect. Bevin presided over(lede) the development of a system of treaties for the global containment(the action of keeping something harmful under control) of communism, the emergence of e comlex imperial policy combining the development of the Empire, the creation of the Commenwealth, and a system of global bases and strong points, and powerful defence forces backed by a British atomic bomb.
involvment of USA in defence of Europe against possible Soviet aggression.

European integration

Treaty of Rome=European Economic Community in 1957- Britain held aloof from membership of the Common Market at its foundation. Reasons: A) Britain saw itself as a great power with a world role B) its belief that its most important international relationships were with the USA and the Commenwealth and that closer economic ties with continental Europe were not in its long-term interest.

Decolconisation after 1950 and 1960

Nationalization of the Suez Canal by the Egyptian leader-Britain, France and Israel conspired to launch(sette i gang) a joint military expedition against Egypt. Pressure from USA and internationa opinion forced Britain to withdraw.

The rise of nationalism throughout many Britsh-governed countries and demands for independence, increasing defence costs in the cold war, the costs of nuclear weapons and their delivery system, the impact of Suez and the increasing role of the USA in maintaining global order, led to much rethinking regarding Britain"s role in the world.

Britain after Second World War was a world power. Some saw Britain as junior world policeman cooperating with the USA to pursuing Western interests. Some people in Britain argued that Britain"s future role lay within Europe, not within Commenwealth beacuse Britain no longer had the resources to maintain a role east of suez.

The under-performing economy

Britain dominated the world economy during the 19th century. Empire costed little. Britain"s dominance in world trade was challenged in the early years of the 20th century as other industrial nations increased their output(produksjon) and trade. They tried to stopp it, but her industrial rivals were getting richer quicker. The huge burden of defence expenditure were damaging the country"s economy.

The major theme of post-war economic policy in  Britain was closer government involvment in running the economy. State involvment had 3 main aspects:
1. The creation of a mixed economy. This was done by a series important nationalisation measures.
2. Government responsibility for economic management, to manage the economy to ensure full employment, to stable prices, economic growth and .....
3.Corporate bias= to describe the close relationship between government and the peak(topp) organisations of industry and trade unions.

After war the main was to achieve a peacetime economy, to negotiate foreign loans to cover the huge balance-of-payments deficits(underskudd)-the US Marshall Aid- Britain"s economy got better.

Building a welfare state

Wartime changes prepared the way for the development of the post-war welfare state. A massiv expansion in the role of government. The government took on powers over the production and distribution of resources and over the labour force.

Beveridge Report: 1942- it called for a new social security system based on compulsory social insurance and fixed subsistence-level(standard of living that provides only the bare necessities of life) (eksistens-liv-livsnødvendigheter) benefits in return for flat-rate(enhetspris) contributions.

The pendulum years: from crisis to doubt

The collapse of the world role, the displacement(forskyvning) of the Commenwealth by Europe, and the increasing reliance(avhengighet-tillit) upon the USA. Britain was no longer a world power-it had lost its empire and not found a role.
EEC= European Economic Community.

In 1955 Britain proposed a grand design to reorganise Western Europe. Britain wanted to create a wide free trade area which could embrace most of Western Europe, including the 6 counties in EEC too. This was oposed by EEC members. reason--->free  trade would destroy their common external tariff and threaten the process of integration. Britain organised an alternative trading bloc in 1959--->EFTA= The European Free Trade Association.(Norway,Britain, Denmark, Portugal , Sweden, Austria and Switzerland.

In 1960 some said that Britain"s national interest would be served by full membership of the EEC. Britain joined  EEC in 1973.

The Thatcher years=1970--crises for the British economy--government hd lost political authority because of their incapacity to reverse(endre-snu) national decline--wage restraint policies in the decade before 1979 engendered(vekke-frembringe) a sense of ungovernability, chaos and mounting public frustration--the main objectives(mål-hensikt) of  Thatcherism: A)to restore British prestige and assert(hevde-forfekte)  British interests more abroad B)to roll back the frontiers(grense) of the state in economic and welfare policy.

Privatisation= denationalisation of aerospace or ...-----a massive transfer of asserts from the public to the private sector--the goals were to increase efficiency-the creation of a free enterprise society---competition into welfare services, lower income taxes, to cut back on public spending.

Thatcherite Britain in Europe=Thatcher reduced the contribution to the European Community budget.

Monetarism= controlling inflation(heving av prisnivået med tilhørende nedgang av pengeverdien) through controlling the money supply.

Thatcher administration had 3 goals: the search for greater efficiency and value for money in welfare provision(forsyning)---the targeting of benefits on the most needy---encouragement of an enhanced(øke-forbedre) role for the private sectore in housing, healthcare, education and pensions provision.

But the roles of local authorities and public sector professionals weakened and increased social inequality-higher rates of unemployment--increased insecurity for many workers.

The impact of Thatcherism= no miracle took place during Thatcher, increasing in indirect taxes, unemployment.

Tony Blair and New Labour= The transformation of Labour to New Labour---Internal reforms, constitutional amendments, policy reviews--Tony Blair set out to forge(forme,skape) New Labour as a democratic, market-oriented, efficiency-conscious , inclusive(samlet) party of the radical centre.

New Labour"s philosophy was---->third way------>between free market capitalism(associated with Thatcher) and centralised state socialism(associated with old Labour). The third way ment a large role for government and it stressed the resposibilities of individuals for their own welfare and the welfare of their families. The message of the third way was that New Labour would help individuals to help themselves. Some said that The third way was an electoral device(påfunn,knep,plan) to win the Conservatives in 1997. New Labour"s  third way recognised government in its traditional role of attempting to solve the problems of society. Third way policies are disigned to destroy poverty.

The third way= a middle way between Thatcherism and old Labour socialism, something between unrestricted free market capitalism and centralised state socialism, partnerships or networks involving the public sector, private sector and voluntary. New Labour relied on new patterns of collaboration(samarbeid).

Between Europe and the Atlantic= Blair has shunned(unngå, sky,holde seg unna) euro-federalism, calling for the EU to become a superpower, not a superstate. Bush has put the British prime minister in a difficult position in his relations with his European equals. The policies of America First on the national missile defence system have angreed EU leaders. Blair"s ambition is for the UK to act as a bridge between the two, and avoid Britain ever being in a position of having to choose between Europe and America. The US wants Britain to be at the heart of th EU, in a position to influence EU policy. Yet the more Britain becomes integrated into EU institution, the more it will put strain on Britain"s special relationship with the USA. Therefore EU governments are suspicious of Britain"s commitment to Europe.

The new British state-changing political processes= complex processes have changed assumptions(antakelse) about the nation state. New post-war structures such as NATO and EU have diluted(make weaker or less forceful by modifying or adding other elements) national sovereignty resulting from the interaction(veksel-virkning)interact(påvirke hverandre) of thousands of national representatives engaged in multiple(fler-sammensatt) negotiations, information exchange, informal trade-offs among like-minded(like-sinnet) officials and ministers in different governments. If these structures attacked sovereignty from above, devolution eroded it from below.