Allies: the collective name given to the group of nations, including Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States, that fought the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan in World War II, the global conflict that took place between 1939 and 1945.
American Enterprise Institute: an American public policy think tank dedicated to researching issues related to governance, economics, and social welfare from a conservative, free-enterprise perspective.
Beveridge Report: the informal name of the report ‘Social Insurance and Allied Services (1942)’. It was written by William Beveridge, a British economist and social reformer, and proposed the welfare strategy that was later followed by the British Labour Party from 1945 until 1951.
Big Society: a philosophy articulated by the British political philosopher Philip Blond (born 1966) in his book Red Tory: How Left and Right Have Broken Britain and How We Can Fix It (London: Faber, 2010). It focuses on the idea that citizens should play a greater part in the running of public institutions such as schools and libraries. It was a core part of the British Conservative Party’s election campaign in 2010.
British Liberal Party: one of the major political parties in Britain. In 1988, it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, renamed the Liberal Democrats in 1989.
Capitalism: an economic system based on private ownership, private enterprise and the maximization of profit.
Central planning: when the government exercises direct ownership and control over a nation’s economy, rather than leaving it to the free market.
Classical liberalism: a political philosophy and ideology that emerged in Europe and the United States in the nineteenth century in response to industrialization and urbanization. It supports the protection of individual liberties and a limited government.
Cold War: a long period of tension and enmity between Eastern and Western powers and, in particular, between the Soviet Union and the United States, usually dated from 1947 to 1991.
Collectivism: a social and economic perspective that emphasizes the interrelatedness of all human beings. It is often presented in contrast to individualism, which highlights independence or self-reliance of individuals.
Communism: a political and economic doctrine that rejects private ownership and advocates that all property should be vested in the community for the benefit of all.
Conservative Party: center-right political party in the United Kingdom, often referred to as the Tory Party. Conservatives tend to support free enterprise and individual liberty.
Democracy: a system of government in which the people exercise power, either directly or through elected representatives.
Depression: a severe and prolonged downturn in a country’s economic output. Technically, depressions are often defined as either a 10 percent decline in national output or any downturn lasting more than two years.
Dictatorship: a political regime in which authority is held by a single individual or political entity.
European Union: an economic and political union established in 1993 through the Treaty of Maastricht. It built on the European Economic Community, which was established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957. The EU reached its current size of 28 member countries with the accession of Croatia on July 1, 2013.
Fascism: a dictatorship that is characterized by strict political, economic, and social controls, and which disallows any form of opposition to the government.
Federalism: a political concept in which power is shared between political entities but organized around a single federal authority. The United States and the European Union are examples of federalist systems.
Federal Stimulus Package: also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, this was a bill authorizing more than $800 billion in spending, split between tax cuts and spending on governmental programs, designed to increase economic growth in the United States. The bill was inspired by Keynesian economic principles.
Financial crisis of 2007–8: an economic crisis that originated in the United States housing market and spread through much of Europe and beyond. It is considered to be the most significant financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Major banks and other financial institutions collapsed and economic activity slumped. Huge government bailouts prevented even greater disaster.
Free markets: an economic system in which goods and services are exchanged in markets and where prices are set by the interaction between supply and demand rather than by the government.
Geo-political: the combination of geographical, economic, and political factors influencing a country and its approach to international relations.
Great Depression: a significant global economic downturn in the years 1929–39.
Institute of Economic Affairs: a free-market think tank established in 1955 by Sir Antony Fisher and Arthur Seldon.
International Monetary Fund: an organization of 188 countries, based in Washington, DC, that promotes global financial stability. It lends money to heavily indebted countries when no one else will.
Iron Curtain: a phrase popularized by Sir Winston Churchill, referring to the post-war division between communist Eastern Europe and capitalist Western Europe.
Keynesian economics: when the government spends money in order to tackle unemployment.
Labour Party: a center-left political party in the United Kingdom.
League of Nations (1920–46): an international organization founded in the aftermath of World War I. It is considered to be the precursor to the modern United Nations.
Legislation: law that has been enacted by a legislature—for example, the British Parliament or the United States Senate. Legislation typically has the purpose of regulating, authorizing, restricting, or granting particular behaviors.
Liberal Party: a political party in the United Kingdom formed from several earlier parties (including the Whigs, the Radicals, and the Peelites). Notably, the Liberals introduced a number of reforms that created the British “welfare state.”
Liberalism: a political philosophy that emphasizes freedom, equality, and regularly contested elections.
London School of Economics: a public research university in the United Kingdom specializing in many aspects of the social sciences, particularly economics and political science.
Monetarism: an economic philosophy, developed mainly at the University of Chicago, which argued that the most important task governments have is to prevent inflation. This could be achieved by reducing the supply of money in the economy.
Mont Pelerin Society: an international economic think tank dedicated to studying and promoting individual freedom. Notable economists such as Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman have been affiliated with it.
National health insurance: a policy that provides health insurance for all of the citizens of a country. The first national health insurance program was implemented in Germany, followed by programs in the United Kingdom.
Naturalized British citizen: when a person from overseas becomes a British citizen after residing in the United Kingdom for five years.
Nazi: an extreme right-wing political party that ruled Germany between 1933 and 1945. The Nazis (short for National Socialists) were led by Adolf Hitler.
Neo-conservatives: a branch of American conservatism that emphasizes the importance of free-market economics and the aggressive promotion of democracy via military force. Neoconservatives are also, generally speaking, neo-liberals.
Neo-liberal: a generally right-wing stance used in relation to politicians such as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Neo-liberals promote free trade, privatization, deregulation, and other moves towards economic liberalization.
New Deal: a program introduced by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) involving public building works and increased government support to tackle the economic depression of the 1930s.
New Democrats: the name given to the us Democratic Party following Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign, when it came to accept less public spending and to impose tougher demands on those receiving government support—measures previously advocated by the Republican Party.
New Labour: the name given to the British Labour Party by Tony Blair during his decade as prime minister (1997–2007). New Labour aimed to modernize the image of the party by breaking from the traditional Labour platform calling for state ownership of the means of production.
Planning: see “Central planning”—the terms are used interchangeably.
Political libertarianism: an ideology that advocates minimal state involvement and a safety net consisting only of the protection provided by law and order.
Political science: an academic discipline that studies systems of governance and political behavior.
Privatization: the process of transferring ownership of governmental assets or institutions to the private sector. An example of privatization would be outsourcing the services of the postal service to a private company.
Public choice theory: a social scientific theory developed to understand how public institutions make decisions. Public choice theory is based on the assumption that public officials are selfinterested.
Republican Party (United States): one of the two main political parties of the US, along with the Democratic Party. It has become a predominantly conservative party focusing on commercial and financial interests, social conservatism, and strong armed forces, and decreasing the role of the central government.
Rule of law: the principle that society should be guided by legal institutions rather than by the interconnected decisions of individuals.
Self-interest: where individuals pursue their own interests and ambitions.
Serfdom: a medieval system in which farmers were dependent on the lord of the manor for many things, requiring his permission to move or to get married. In modern serfdom, it is the State that citizens need to obey.
Skepticism: an attitude characterized by doubt and uncertainty about the truth of something.
Social democracy: a liberal democratic system with a commitment to social reform and social justice. This is often achieved by more traditional socialist policies such as support for the welfare state and nationalization of industry and services.
Socialism: a political and economic theory that advocates a system of social organization in which the means of production and distribution are owned collectively or by the state.
Soviet Union: a communist union of states administered in the capital city of Moscow. At the end of the cold war the Soviet Union was dissolved and many states adopted capitalism.
Tariff: a tax imposed on imported goods and services. Imposing tariffs is one of the most commonly used ways of creating barriers to trade.
Tea Party movement: a political movement founded within the us Republican Party in 2009 with the aim of reducing the size of the us government.
Totalitarianism: Totalitarianism refers to rule by political dictatorship and the abolition of democracy.
War on Terror: this is the term that is commonly applied to American-led actions throughout the Middle East against non-state “terrorist” actors, including al-Qaeda. It covers the drone campaign in Pakistan, the occupation of Afghanistan, and other covert and overt operations.
Welfare state: a state in which the economic and social well-being of citizens is protected by governmental institutions, usually funded by taxes. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility.
World Bank: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, known as the World Bank, is an organization of 188 countries, based in Washington, DC, that assists low- and middle-income countries to reduce poverty and develop their economies.
World War I: an international conflict between 1914 and 1918 centered in Europe and involving the major economic world powers of the day.
World War II: a global conflict between 1939 and 1945 that pitted the Axis Powers of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan against the Allied nations, including Britain, the United States and the USSR.