Thatcherism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The political doctrine associated with Margaret Thatcher and her British government ; a program of free-market policies that cut state control and sold off public enterprises
2. The conservative ideology championed by Margaret Thatcher during her time as British prime minister ; an economic approach favoring privatization and less government intervention in markets
3. The political philosophy linked to the leadership of Margaret Thatcher in Britain ; a set of market-driven policies promoting privatization and curbing the role of the state

Etymology: Thatcherism is a plain formation: the surname Thatcher, the name of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, with the suffix "-ism" added to denote a doctrine or set of policies. What gives the term its interest is that it was popularized not by a politician but by the Jamaican-born British sociologist and cultural theorist Stuart Hall, who used it in an article in the magazine Marxism Today. Hall's use was analytical rather than celebratory, and it helped turn a personal name into a label for an entire political programme. The word thus names a set of ideas associated with a leader rather than a school of thought that predates her. Its shape follows older coinages such as "Gladstonianism" and "Chartism" in English, where a person's name became the name of their doctrine. Because the suffix attaches to a living person's surname, the term carries the evaluative weight of its user: those who admired the policies and those who opposed them have both adopted it, which is why it is rarely used neutrally.