4.1 Case studies of 3 GEs Flashcards
6
What are the social factors (long-term) that affect voting behaviour?
- Class
- Age
- Region
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Education
5
What are the non-social factors (short-term) that affect voting behaviour?
- valence issues (party/leader image)
- salient issues
- party manifesto and campaigns
- tactical voting
- opinion polls
2
How do social factors affect voting behaviour
- ‘Political socialisation’ - upbringings and environment
- Rationality - people more likely to vote for party that will advance their group’s interests
What are the social class categories?
A - higher managerial/professional workers (e.g. business owners, lawyers)
B - middle managers and professionals (e.g. teachers)
C1 - clerical workers (e.g. office clerks)
C2 - skilled manual (e.g. plumbers)
D - unskilled (e.g. factory workers)
E - pensioners, unemployed (e.g. job seekers)
4
Describe class dealigment
- Process where individuals no longer identify themselves as belonging to a certain class (so class ≠ voting behaviour)
- ‘Change over time’
- No longer reliable predictor - ‘Red Wall’ switch clearest example of this
- Can be expressed in other ways (e.g. level of education)
3
What are the causes of class dealigment?
- Changing class system - manual workforce decline - ‘traditional’ wc made way for new’ wc
- Cross-class locations - decline in trade union membership and rise in home ownership
- Embourgeoisement - affluence has meant the wc have become mc
1
Give statistics on the decrease in the manual workforce?
manual workforce shrunk from 58% in 1961 to 29% in 2013
6
Describe partisan dealigment
- Triggered by class dealigment
- Process where individuals no longer identify themselves on a long-term basis by being associated with a certain political party
- Scotland - Lab 41 seats (2010) vs SNP 56 seats (2015)
- Fewer people strongly attached to one party
- 1979 - 81% voted Con or Lab
- 2010 - 65% voted Con or Lab
3
What are the causes of partisan dealigment
minus class dealigment
- inc edu - use rational choice theory to approach policies
- impact of media - wider sources of news (esp broadcast), less dependent on party-supporting newspapers
- Ideological change - shift in party policy (e.g. New Lab)
3 (short points)
To what extent is social class important in GEs?
Finish
4
Describe the effect of age on voting behaviour
- Age has replaced class as most sig factor
- Pivotal switchover age - 39 - explained by greater financial pressures/considerations
- Older voters more likely to turnout
- YouGov 2019: every 10 yrs someone ages, they are 8% less likely to vote Lab
Give a statistic that displays higher turnouts among older voters
2015 GE: 43% (18-24 ), 78% (65+)
2
What are the reasons for age demographic-based voting
- Lab policy pull to young - tuition fees 2017/2019 + progressive policies
- Con policy pull to old - pension benefits (e.g. triple-lock) + harder on immigration
2
Give stats that show age-based split voting in 2017
- 18-24: Con 27%
- 65+: Con 61%
5
Describe the effect of region on voting behaviour
- Concentrated support
- Scotland - currently largely SNP, Con succeed in rural border areas
- London - inner = Lab, outer = Con - affected by ethnic diversity and suburban affluence
- Some surprise results e.g. Cambridge is a Lab area
- N-S partisan divide somewhat diluted by 2019 red wall fall, remaining political divide over brexit
2 regions - 3 major parties
Give stats relating to the 2019 GE on region-based voting
- NE England: Con 28%, Lab 43%, LD 7%
- London: Con 32%, Lab 48%, LD 15%
Relating to 3 major parties
Describe Brexit’s effect on voting behaviour
- Con support grew in strong leave areas (Red Wall), fell in strong remain areas
- Lab support fell more in strong leave areas
- LD support grew more in strong remain areas (revoke article 50)
6
Describe the effect of gender on voting behaviour
- Minimal - but could still be sigificant
- Young women voters tend to vote Lab or LD
- Lab introduced all women shortlists
- Decline in effect
- 1979 - larger majority of Con over Lab for female vote than male vote
- 2017 - closer gap between 2 major parties for female vote than male vote
Give a stat that shows young women are more likely to vote Lab
Age 18-24 (2019): 65% women voted Lab vs 46% men
Lab was most still pop in this age bracket
2 stats + 1 date
Give stats that show a virtually non-existent gender split in voting
- 2019 election
- Con: Men 46%, Women 44% (2pt gap)
- Lab: Men 31%, Women 35% (4pt gap)
4
Describe the effect of ethnicity on voting behaviour
- Significant factor
- Immigrants, BAME tend to vote Lab (e.g. 2010 60%)
- exceptions - Hindu communities have much larger Con support - growing wealth/aspiration
- Jews historically tend to vote Lab - declined under Corbyn’s premiership (Luciana Berger MP left party - later rejoined)
Give an example of a BAME area with high Lab support
East Ham (76% Lab support at 2019 GE)
2
What are reasons for ethnic-based voting
- Push from Con - current rhetoric and historic attitudes (Powell)
- Pull to Lab - welfare policies, more black Lab MPs (e.g. David Lammy), race relations acts
What are the limits of ethnic-based voting?
There is a concentration of ethnic minority groups in urban industrial centres such as London (e.g. East Ham)
(…) is when voters make rational voting choices that align with their personal objectives
Rational Choice Theory
3
What are valence issues?
- Valence concerns general image of party/leader
- Closely tied to governing competency
- Specific issues or range of issues
4
What are the dfferent types of valence issues? (with examples)
- Governing competency (e.g. Con defeat in 1997 with ‘cash for questions’)
- Economic competence (e.g. 2019 lab spending plans - £1.2trn)
- Party unity - voters trust united parties but not disunited ones (e.g. Con defeats in 2001 and 2005 partly due to divisions over Europe)
- Image of leaders (e.g. Clegg failure in 2015)
2
Describe salient issues
- Important issues relevant to specific election
- Shape election campaigns (e.g. ‘Get Brexit Done’)
3
Why is leader image becoming more influential?
- Rise in ‘presidentialism’
- Monopilisation of media focus
- Greater say over policy (e.g. 2022 Lab conference PR)
5
What are the different parts of leader image
- experience
- personality
- perceived charisma
- ideology
- ‘anti-establishment’ image e.g. Corbyn
Give a stat to explain the impact of leader image on voting behaviour
Survey found 43% of defected Lab voters in 2019 voted on basis of leadership
3Ps
Evaluate the view that party campaigning and manifestos are the most important factor behind voting behaviour
P1: Pop of manifesto policies - higher turnouts (e.g. ‘youthquake’) vs social (ethnic) factors - policies naturally positioned to appeal to diff groups (e.g. East Ham 2019) - ‘reduces electoral volaitility’
P2: Attack ads (e.g. Sunak child sexual abuser) vs Valence issues - party/leader image (e.g. party image of Con in 1997)
P3: Unexpected campaigning events (e.g. ‘bigotgate’) vs short campaign periods of 4-6 weeks (e.g. LD 2010 - 1pc inc)
Give a stat that displays the 2017 ‘youthquake’
18-24 age group turnout jumped by 11 points in 2017 from 2015
Younger and ethnic voters tend to display (…) levels of disillusion and apathy
greater
3
What factors affect turnout?
- Closeness of election (59% in 2001, 78% in 1992)
- Greater differences in policy positions of major 2 parties (2017 Lab manfiesto radically diff to Con - led to youthquake)
- Salient issues (2017 69% turnout highest since 1997)