26.) Forms And Pattern of Participation in Politics

Question 1

Name some ways that people participate in politics?

Answer 1

-Voting in elections
-Political party membership
-Standing as a candidate in elections
-Joining a pressure group
-Writing letters to MP and councillors
-Going on a march
-Going on a strike

Question 2

What are some modern developments in participation that have occurred recently?

Answer 2

-Signing E-petitions
-Following or spreading causes on social media
-Organising participating in protests I.E BLM
-Boycotting goods etc

Question 3

What is some criticisms of these new methods?

Answer 3

-Slacktivism
-Abuse online
-Bots making participation be inflated in scale

Question 4

What is happening with turnout for recent elections?

Answer 4

It’s decreasing

Question 5

Give some examples of elections where turnout is poor?

Answer 5

-2019 European Elections (37%)
-2018 unitary council elections (33%)
-2016 PCC elections (27%)
-2016 Scottish Parliament Elections (56%)

Question 6

How does age effect voter turnout?

Answer 6

Older people vote more

Question 7

Give some figures for this claim about age and voting?

Answer 7

Ipsos MORI 2019: turnout ranges between 47% (18-24 year olds) and 74% for over 65s

Question 8

What’s the constituency profiles for high and low turnout areas?

Answer 8

-Low turnout areas: poorer, lower education, typically found in Welsh Valleys, West Midlands and Northern England
-High turnout areas: more educated, found more in Southern England

Question 9

Is voter turnout linked to safe seats?

Answer 9

NO - 70% of the seats in the 2019 election were considered safe, their turnout (67.1%) was only slightly lower than the remaining marginal seats (67.9%)

Question 10

What were the member totals for each party in 2019?

Answer 10

Source: Commons research paper

Labour: 485,000
Tories: 180,000
SNP: 126,000
LibDems: 115,000
Green Party (E+W): 48,500
UKIP: 29,000
Plaid Cymru: 10,000

Question 11

How have party membership rates changed?

Answer 11

-Tories have gone from 2.8 million members during the 1950s to 180,000
-Labour have gone from 1 million to 485,000 - this shows a decrease in participation

Question 12

Why is the decline in political party membership not entirely consistent?

Answer 12

-Smaller parties have grown in recent years
-Not all parties publish comparable figures I.E Brexit party apparently having 115,000 members

Question 13

What is voter volatility?

Answer 13

Voters not sticking with one party - “partisan dealignment”

Question 14

Give reasons why there’s a participation crisis in British politics?

Answer 14

-Turnout has been low in recent elections
-Voters feel less attacked to a political party
-Membership of political parties has sharply declined since the 1950s
-People have become disillusioned with MPs since the Expenses Scandal (2009)
-18-24 year olds are politically apathetic and less likely to participate in politics than older voters
-Many modern political methods are slacktivism and not true activism

Question 15

Give reasons why there’s NOT a participation crisis in British politics?

Answer 15

-Parties like SNP and Greens have grown in membership
-Election turnout is not consistently lower E.G Indy ref and Brexit
-Citizens participate just in different ways I.E social media
-Social movements operating outside traditional means can attract younger voters
-Pressure groups have grown in size
-Internet based movements like #MeToo has lead to much public debate