Common sense is a key route to hegemonic power in democracies

Evidence

Neither Keynesianism nor monetarism, however, wins votes as such in the electoral marketplace. But, in the discourse of “social market values,” Thatcherism discovered a powerful means of translating economic doctrine into the language of experience, moral imperative, and common sense, thus providing a “philosophy” in the broader sense—an alternative ethic to that of the “caring society.” This translation of a theoretical ideology into a populist idiom was a major political achievement: and the conversion of hard-faced economics into the language of compulsive moralism was, in many ways, the centerpiece of this transformation. “Being British” became once again identified with the restoration of competition and profitability; with tight money and sound finance (“You can’t pay yourself more than you earn!!”)—the national economy projected on the model of the household budget. The essence of the British people was identified with self-reliance and personal responsibility, as against the image of the overtaxed individual, enervated by welfare-state “coddling,” his or her moral fiber irrevocably sapped by “state handouts.” This assault, not just on welfare over-spending, but on the very principle and essence of collective social welfare—the centerpiece of consensus politics from the Butskell period onward—was mounted, not through an analysis of which class of the deserving made most out of the welfare state, but through the emotive image of the “scrounger”: the new folk-devil. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 1110 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Common sense is a historical construct with changing ideological contents.; Becoming common sense is a key route to hegemonic power; Economic doctrine wins power only when translated into moral common sense (+24 more)

Related

• Economic doctrine wins power only when translated into moral common sense (similarity 0.93)
• Common sense is a historical construct with changing ideological contents. (similarity 0.91)
• Thatcherism translated economic doctrine into populist moral common sense (similarity 0.87)
• Thatcherism is authoritarian populism, not fascism, retaining popular consent (similarity 0.84)
• Reading a conjuncture’s populist roots early enabled accurate prediction of Thatcherism (similarity 0.80)
• Thatcherism fused organic Tory nationalism with neoliberal free-market ideology into a new language. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Thatcherism translated economic doctrine into populist moral common sense #exemplifies (0.80) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 1110
• Power cannot self-realize but depends on societal-structural conditions for legitimacy #expands (0.78)
• Common sense can be worked upon to transform it into conscious class struggle #expands (0.75)
• Undifferentiated power conflates truth with decision-making authority #complicates (0.75)
• Power operates partly through perception rather than explicit verbal communication #complicates (0.72)
• Hegemony is rule achieved through consent rather than coercion #expands (0.70) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 626
• Democracy is a mode of associated living, not just a form of government #expands (0.50)