Margaret Thatcher and American conservatism

The article is devoted to the issue of Thatcherism genetic peculiarities identification in the context of modern conservatism national types. Theoretical backgrounds and practices of Thatcherism enable the author not only to fit Margaret Thatcher period into the history of British conservatism and neoconservatism of 1970-1980, but also to trace the implementation of Iron Lady's ideas in the policies of modern British and American conservatists. The importance of the analysis of the connections between Thatcherism and American conservatism is determined by several factors: considerable difference between Thatcher's policy and the policy of most of her predecessors and successors from Conservative Party of Great Britain; closeness between British Prime Minister's activities and the events taken place in the USA at the time of Ronald Reagan presidency; more importantly, ideological closeness of Thatcher's ideas to modern American right wing conservatists, so called, Conservative populists. The latter was particularly close to Thatcher in their faithfulness to the economic aspects of Classical Liberalism with its welfare refusal, propagating religious and social values among common people and also belief in nation as the fundamental element of political process. At the same time the analysis of the activities of British Conservatists led by the Prime Minister David Cameron brought to the conclusion that modern Conservative Party of Great Britain follows European type of Conservatism with the prevalence of centrist ideas and weak right wind which is under threat coming from radical-minded political groups.