2.1Political parties

Question 1

which parties are considered to be left wing

Answer 1

labour, the Green Party, socialism, communism

Question 2

which parties are considered to be right wing

Answer 2

the conservatives, UKIP, reform UK, fascism

Question 3

why is participation important to parties

Answer 3

• in order to win power or influence, parties encourage people to vote
• eg, labour increased its membership as people payed £3 for one, later raised to £25

Question 4

how are parties funded

Answer 4

• their members pay subscription fees
• they get ‘short money’ which is a special state provision
• labour is traditionally funded by trade unions and conservatives are traditionally funded by his businesses however in recent time labour has become more friendly with the business world

Question 5

what is the 2000 political parties, elections and referendum act?

Answer 5

• independent electoral commission set up to supervise party spending in election campaigns
• parties capped to spend 30k per constituency
• parties had to publish details of donations at regular intervals
• donations from people not on UK electoral roll banned

Question 6

what are the arguments for state funding

Answer 6

• parties play an important role in representative democracy so deserve public funding
• public funding removes disparity in resources available to different sized parties
• would curb the potential corrupt influence of private bankers on party policy

Question 7

what are the arguments against party funding

Answer 7

• increased state funding could leas to calls for greater regulation possibly reducing parties independence
• public funding could isolate the parties from the wishes of the voters
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