The Third Way Policies of the Labour Government of 1997-2010 - Essay Example

?The Third Way Policies of the Labour Government of 1997 Introduction The phrase “Labour Government of 1997 con s the fact that United Kingdom had been under the administration of prime ministers who are both members of the Labour Party. This could also mean that the Labour Party had been ruling the British political arena for ten years. From 1997 until 2007, Tony Blair was the prime minister of United Kingdom (UK). On the year that followed, he was replaced by Gordon Brown. Brown served the British government for only three years, from 2007 to 2010. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown represented the Labour Party when they ran for public office and won. This is the reason why UK’s government from 1997-2010 has been dubbed as the “Labour Government.” British prime ministers serve the British people for not more than five years (Magstadt, 2008). This means that after five years, another prime minister will be chosen unless the current leader can maintain the parliament’s “vote of confidence” (Magstadt, 2008). Blair’s political career is a perfect example for this political situation. After he served the British people for five years, he was again elected for another term. Blair was reelected by the British parliament in 2001 (Childs, 2008). It was another victory for the Labour Party after Blair’s landslide election in 1997 (Childs, 2008). The Third Way The “Third Way” is actually an ideology (Walraven & Persons, 2000). It is often associated with the Labour Party. This political idea was actually introduced by Tony Blair (Holmes, 2009). He has utilized this ideology when he ran for public office in 1997 to be UK’s prime minister. He described his platform of governance as the “Third Way”. This description seemingly suggests a different way of imposing policies in United Kingdom. Blair was actually aiming for ideological change. He wanted to change the political landscape of British government. He neither favored the first and second way of leading Britain. The first way refers to Margaret Thatcher’s leadership while the second way pertains to John Major’s administration. It was Blair’s vision to implement a new policy. The “Third Way” or the so called “New Labour” is the way to adopt this modern course of action (Kramp, 2010). Blair called this policy as “neither the old left nor the new right” (Leach, 2009 cited in Kramp, 2010, p.4). In other words, the “Third Way” proposes changes which do not adopt to the old party’s agenda (Kramp, 2010). It establishes a new and independent policy. It tries to separate itself from Thatcher and Major’s conservative governments (Kramp, 2010). Stated in another sense, the “Third Way” is a whole new political ideology. According to Kramp (2010), it is a hybrid. Anthony Giddens, the author of the “Third Way” ideology declared that all he wanted to make is a framework of a collaborated or integrated political programme which will cover each of the significant parts of society (Giddens, 1998). This means that Giddens aims for equality among the British citizens in terms of public services. He wanted to create a point of convergence between the left and right ideologies. In doing such, he made sure that none of the political terms will be in conflict. He formulated the “New Labour” in a way that it does not favor any of the old ideologies neither the new ideologies. Giddens actually integrated the key concepts of the two principles. In other words, the “Third Way” is a neutral political ideology. As cited by Giddens, the ultimate objective of the “Third Way” must be to assist the people “pilot their way through the major revolutions of our time: globalization, transformations in personal life and our relationship to nature” (Giddens, 1998). He further said that it is necessary for social democrats to question cultural and economic protectionism as well as the far right territory which views globalization as destructive to national tradition and integrity (Giddens, 1998). To this end, Giddens offered a framework which is composed of six points for a restructured radical politics (cited in Ritzer, 2003, p.262). These are the following: (1) to repair damaged solidarities (2) to acknowledge “the centrality of life politics” (3) to recognize that active trust connotes generative politics (4) to welcome dialogic democracy and (5) to rethink or review the welfare state (Giddens, cited in Ritzer, 2003, p.262). Based upon the aforementioned outline, the “Third Way” policies of the Labour Government of 1997-2010 shall be examined. The Labour Government’s Third Way Policies Under the administration of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, the Labour Party or the New Labour was committed to modernization (Kesselman, et al., 2009). This is in line with Giddens idea on the ‘Third Way”. To note, Giddens has always acknowledged the benefits of globalization. Globalization and modernization are interrelated political ideas. There is globalization because of modernization. Giddens wanted to incorporate the latest ideas to create a new way of governing the British citizens. It was his vision to see a state benefiting from the modern changes. In this context, the New Labour promised modern approaches to welfare, economic and social policy (Kesselman, et al., 2009). Nonetheless, the party emphasized the importance of individual responsibility among the British citizens. The Labour Party highlighted the fact that the citizens will only get assistance from the British government if they are able to demonstrate their commitment to get the required education and training (Kesselman, et al., 2009). In this sense, under the leadership of Blair and Brown, the right to education was highly pronounced. Seemingly, the government may have wanted to relay a social rule. Specifically, the Labour government desired to enlighten the British people of the fact that while policy-making is at the heart of their governance, education should be the aim of every British citizen. In another aspect, the Labour Government followed the path of dialogue and cooperation (Powell, 1999). The government’s dialogue was focused on knowing the views of the British people with regard to a certain public service. The purpose of which was for the Labour Government to see its mistakes and formulate the most appropriate solution. According to Martin Powell (1999, p.167), the Labour Government was more consensual and consultative. This is a logical observation. It describes the essential characteristics of a dialogue. For a dialogue to be possible, consent is a pre-requisite. The term “consultation” captures the inherent nature of a dialogue. Dialogue is a form of consultation since there is a speaker (the Labour Government) and a listener (the British people). The Labour government has applied dialogue in rethinking social security policies. It has established several reviews specifically in the areas of disability, elderly care and pensions (Powell, 1999). The Labour Government’s dialogue served as the means wherein the British citizens could voice out their objections to the current social security policies and even suggest other methods to achieve an efficient implementation. This method is in accordance with Giddens notion on dialogic democracy. There is dialogic democracy if the following three requisites are complied with: (1) the presence of a developed autonomy of communication (2) the communication forms a dialogue and (3) activities and policies are shaped due to the dialogue (Giddens, 1998). The Labour government of Blair and Brown aimed for this kind of democracy to exist in Britain. It is a democracy upholding genuine and active participation in the formulation of a policy. In a sense, dialogic democracy can be described as imploring true democracy. Accordingly, it is contended that this kind of approach is effective. People are given the opportunity to commend or object to a suggested policy. The proposed policy will be representing the voice of the people and not of the few. To uphold solidarity, the British government under Blair's leadership created devolved parliaments in Wales and Scotland (Berry, et al., 2010). The devolution granted both countries control over their means of taxation, public policy and spending (Berry, et al., 2010). Even though they were only accorded limited control, the two countries were grateful to the government's idea on devolution. Due to the devolution, Scotland and Wales were able to enjoy rights which they did not enjoy since the passage of Act of Union in the year 1707 (Berry, et al., 2010). In that act, the two countries were excluded from the limited autonomy that the British government has accorded to the other states, England and Northern Ireland. Devolution is actually the process of transferring governmental power to the lower level of government (Wiesen, n.d.). This procedure has indeed enhanced the relationship of the countries comprising the United Kingdom. It has repaired the damaged solidarities among the countries. From then on, Scotland and Wales have exercised the same level of autonomy that the other British countries have experienced. Another feature of Blair’s Labour Government is “the maintenance of the welfare state within the context of a liberal capitalist economy” (Smith, 2007). This kind of economic policy is substantially different from the economic legacy of Margaret Thatcher and John Major. It is liberal in terms of making economic moves and not the conservative type. This is understandable since a state aiming to adopt the modern changes has to be liberal. Globalization in its real nature promotes liberalization. Blair has realized this necessity. Thus, he offered the idea of a liberal capitalist economy. He envisioned for an economic policy which is compatible with a welfare state. The welfare state is actually a way of maintaining and promoting welfare in a society (Spicker, 2000). The process of rethinking the welfare state must have been difficult for the Labour Government. It involves the consideration of many factors including public scrutiny. Nonetheless, Blair was able to face the challenges of changing the British economic policy. The Labour government has justified the move by emphasizing the state’s responsibility of assuring economic growth (Smith, 2007). The center of his economic policy was to increase the employment rate in UK. Significantly, Blair’s economic policy was proven successful. From 1997 t0 2005, UK’S GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has greatly increased (Smith, 2007). The British government then added its income to public expenditure budget rather than decreasing the country’s taxation rate (Smith, 2007). Blair then moved to increase the budget for education and healthcare in United Kingdom (Smith, 2007). The Labour Government was able to hold the center and left of British politics. Originally, the Labour Party was the party of the working class (Giddens, 2007). Stated in another sense, the strength of the party was the working people in Britain. Notably, the Labour Government has observed that the number of British people belonging to the working class has declined (Giddens, 2007). There were new kinds of workers emerging in the British society. Wired workers were cited by Giddens as an example of the new occupational class in UK. Wired workers do not belong to the working class neither to the white-collar workers (Giddens, 2007). The Labour Party realized that British economy has become knowledge and service based (Giddens, 2007). Thus, it offered to change its target. The move was crucial for the party’s political success. The party then proposed to appeal to the new occupational groups in Britain while maintaining its original constituency (Giddens, 2007). It aimed to preserve the class that it represents while covering the new kind of British workers which dominates the British economy. As a consequence, the Labour Government shifted its focus from the center of British political arena to the left. In this way, it still holds its constituency while gathering support from the new occupational groups. This political move signifies commitment to the third way. The ability to change its political tactics corresponds to Giddens idea on accepting the revolutions of our time. Conclusion The “Third Way” has changed the British political landscape. The making of policies has gone liberal. The conservative government was replaced with a modern and liberal type of government. Blair and Brown were both inspired by Giddens’ idea on radical politics. They have introduced the concept in almost all areas of development. Stated otherwise, the “Third Way” policies were applied by the Labour Government of 1997-2010 in the major sectors of British society. Specifically, they have used the new political ideology in proposing changes to the welfare, economic and social policies of United Kingdom. Their proposal was in accordance with the move to modernize the policy-making process of the state. The British political arena became a revolutionized one. There was an abrupt shift to the modern way of governance. Ultimately, the implementation of the “Third Way” became a success. The British citizens were very open to change. They were able to adjust easily to the new policy. The use of the modern policy turned out to be beneficial to all the countries making up the United Kingdom. Economic growth was observed from 1997-2010 due to the “Third Way” policies. References Berry, O. Else, D. & Atkinson, D., 2010. Lonely Planet discover Great Britain. United Kingdom: Lonely Planet. Childs, S., 2008. Women and British party politics: descriptive, substantive and symbolic representation. Oxford: Routledge. Giddens, A., 2007. Over to you, Mr. brown: how labour can win again. United Kingdom: Polity. Giddens, A., 1998. The third way: the renewal of social democracy. United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell. Holmes, A., 2009. The third way: globalisation’s legacy. United Kingdom: Troubador Publishing Ltd. Kesselman, M. Krieger, J. & Joseph, W., 2009. Introduction to comparative politics: political challenges and changing agendas. Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning. Kramp, P., 2010. The British labour party and the “third way”: analysing the ideological change and its reasons under the leadership of Tony Blair. Germany: GRIN Verlag. Magstadt, T., 2008. 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