The political consequences of thatcherism

While the economic changes effected by the British Conservative government in the 1980s are transparent, there is considerable debate as to whether there was a political dimension to the Thatcher Revolution. This paper argues that the Conservatives were successful in undertaking social structural reforms that effectively moved the political center of gravity in Britain to the right and toward the government's preferred market-oriented policy agenda. The government's strategy—manifest in the sale of council houses to tenants and of shares in privatized corporations to individuals, and its attack on organized labor—was narrowly targeted on the swing electorate among wealthier members of the lower socioeconomic strata. The Labour party has acknowledged the successes of the Conservatives' structural reforms, and has moved its policy platform, in Downsian fashion, to the right in order to regain electoral competitiveness.     

Leisure Behavior Pattern Stability During the Transition from Adolescence to Young Adulthood

Leisure is an important context in which human development occurs. Changes in leisure behavior patterns may indicate changing developmental needs or reflect contextual changes that impact leisure behavior. The transition from adolescence to young adulthood provides an excellent opportunity for the study of the stability of leisure behavior as individuals' contexts are changed with the adoption of adult roles and the potential for disruption of leisure patterns exists. Previous studies investigating leisure and the transition from adolescence to young adulthood have tended to be cross-sectional and focus on specific leisure behaviors rather than identifying patterns of leisure behavior. The present study involved a longitudinal investigation of leisure behavior patterns over a three-year period during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood, and determined the nature of leisure pattern stability and instability during this period. In general, leisure pattern stability was the most common pathway into young adulthood. The patterns of leisure behavior and the nature of the changes that occurred with the transition from adolescence to young adulthood differed to some degree for males and females, although similarities in patterns and transitions were also found.     

Book reviews

Global Security: North American, European and Japanese Interdependence in the 1990s Eric Grove (Ed.). Brassey's (London) 1991.109 pp. £7.50, $13.50 (PBk) ISBN 0–0804–0988–1.

Revolution and Political Change in the Third World Edited by Barry M. Schutz and Robert O. Slater. Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. 1991. 260 pp. £28.50 (HBk). ISBN 0–7449–0025–5.

British Security Policy; The Thatcher Years and the End of the Cold War Stuart Croft (Ed.). Harper Collins, 1991. 231 pp. £10.95 (PBk) ISBN 0–04–445819–3.

The Near East Since the First World War By M.E. Yapp. Longman: 1991. 526 pp. £24.95. ISBN 0582–09499–0.

Crimes of Obedience: Towards a Social Psychology of Authority and Responsibility By Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton. Yale 1990. 382 pp. £10.95 (PBk)

Palestinians Between Israel and Jordan By Raphael Israeli. Praeger. 1991. 206 pp. £35.95 (HBk) ISBN 0–275–93938–3.

Review of Edwina Mountbatten: A Life of her Own By Janet Morgan. Harper Collins. London. 1991. £20.

Politics and Government in the Middle East and North Africa By Tariq Y. Ismael and Jacqueline S. Ismael. Florida International University Press. Miami. 1991. 570 pp. £31.95 (HBk). ISBN 0–8130–1043–8.

Soviet Military Art in a Time of Change. Command and Control of the Future Battlefield By Robert Hall London: Brassey's. 1991. 203pp. £22.50 (HBk) ISBN 008–0413218.

Europe in Turmoil ‐ The Struggle for Pluralism. European Defence and Strategic Studies Annual 1990–91. Edited by Gerald Frost. Adamantine Press Ltd. 1991. 377pp. £32.50 (PBk) ISBN 0–7449–0029–8.