Post-war Consensus and its Erosion

 I. Battle of Ideas?

            a. The material reality of the post-war

 II. The Post-war Consensus and its Elements

            a. High wages and social democracy

                        i. expanded productivity

                        ii. cradle-to-grave ‘social wage’

             b. The status of ‘consensus’

                        i. corporatist negotiation

                        ii. capital labour struggle

             c. The unique post-war environment

                        i. US dominance and European rebuilding

                        ii The competitive pressures of success

 III. Political Struggle and a Waning Consensus

            a. New Left

                        i. disillusionment with the left, welfare state, etc.

ii. greater desire for ‘participatory democracy’

iii. breakdown of the left?

             b. New Right

                        i. the welfare state is a drain

                        ii. reassertion of liberalism, vicious attack on Keynesianism

                        iii. victory of the right: Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney…