State Policy Formation and the Origins of the Poll Tax - Hardcover

McConnell, Allan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1855214881 ISBN 13: 9781855214880

Publisher: Dartmouth Publishing Co Ltd, 1995

Synopsis

The Poll tax was so disliked that it provoked a massive law-breaking exercise, and legal action was taken against almost 1,250,000 Scots in the second year of its operation. Its introduction to England and Wales saw riots in Cheltenham and London, and mass protests up and down the country, involving many Conservative supperters on a scale unprecedented from within the Party's electoral base. It was this tax that led to the ousting of Mrs Thatcher from her 11 year premiership, and its subsequent abolition of it under the new leader John Major. This book examines how such unpopular legislation came about, and the process of state policy formation.

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From the Author

Summary of Contents
The Poll Tax is THE most controversial policy ever introduced in modern Britain. This book is a study of its origins, whilst relating it to theories of policy formation in order that we are better able to understand the process of policy formation which produced such a radical and deeply unpopular policy. First, it examines principles of polict formation. Second, it identifies the wider political and economic context to the poll tax reforms by examining the political economy of the Thatcher Government. Third, it undertakes a highly detailed study of the origins of the first poll tax legislation in Scotland. It examines the impetus given by the 1985 property revaluation in Scotland; the cabinet decision to proceed with a poll tax, the public consultation process and the passsage of the legislation through Parliament. It concludes by arguing that the poll tax was no accident of history. Rather, it argues that the poll tax was a product of the Thatcher era and a government able to exploit the contradictions of its own policies (particularly towards local government)in order to shift the policy agenda to the "right"

This book should be of interest to those in the fields of policy sciences, public administration, local government, politics and contemporary history.

Edition details

• Publisher: Dartmouth Publishing Co Ltd
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1855214881
• ISBN 13: 9781855214880
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 254