8. Political parties Flashcards
1
Q
Conservatives
A
- traditionally the party to represent the wealthy
- Thatcherism more racial, neo liberals, one-nation conservatives attract some working class
- if there is change generally, they like it slow and overtime
2
Q
Labour
A
- formed 1900
- rejected revolutionary socialism
- socialism - equality between people through common ownership
- Blair abandoned clause IV 1997
- Third way - developed by New Lab
3
Q
Liberal Democrats
A
- Liberalism - freedom - individual and free trade
- social democracy - democratic version of socialism - win powers within a democratic system
- social liberalism - liberal form of social democracy - dismantle Thatcher’s economic politics
4
Q
2017 election manifesto - economy
A
- Cons: continue working towards a balanced budget
- Lab: Nationalisation of railways and energy
- LD: Infrastructure investment
5
Q
2017 election manifesto - health
A
- Cons: £8B extra funding over 5yrs
- Lab: £30B extra funding over 5yrs
- LD: £6M per year for NHS and social care
6
Q
2019 election manifesto - Education
A
- Cons: increase number of good school places
- Lab: abolish uni tuition
- LD: increase education funding
7
Q
What are the functions of a political party?
A
- Representation - represent the ideology and views of members
- Participation - provide opportunities for people to politically participate
- recruitment - recruit and select canidates for elections
- policy - develop polcies and offer these to the electorate in their manifestos
- gov - provide voters with a clear choice of different gov
8
Q
What is the structure and membership of the conservatives?
A
- each constituency have a con association
- 1922 committee is made up of backbench con MPs
- headquarter in London CCHQ
- March 2018 124,000 members
9
Q
What is the structure and membership of Labour?
A
- each constituency has a constituency labour party - small local branches choose local council canidates
- 14 trade unions affiliated to Labour
- June 2017 552,000 members
2022 400,000 members
10
Q
What is the structure and membership of LD?
A
- federal structure
- federal board is the governing board
- August 2018 99,000 members
11
Q
How do the conservatives appoint party leaders?
A
- MPs vote on leadership canidates
12
Q
How do to Labour appoint party leaders?
A
- Parliamentary Labour party makes nominations first then canidates must win support of 5% local parties then all members and registered supporters vote
13
Q
How do the LD appoint party leaders?
A
- canidate must win support of at least 10% LD MPs and backing from at least 20 local parties then all members vote
14
Q
What are the sources of party funding?
A
- membership fees - income from these has reduced membership numbers
- small donations from individuals - fall in membership has lead to fewer small donations
- large donations - Blairs Lab gov - £1M donation
- Trade unions to the Labour party - worth millions, but reduced due to Trade Union Act 2016
- state funding - designed to counter the financial advantage enjoyed by the party of gov with large funds
15
Q
What are the types of state funding?
A
- short money - state funds paid to opposition parties in HoC to pay for administrative costs
- Cranborne money - State funds paid to opposition parties in HoL for administrative costs
- Policy Development Grants - any party with 2+ sitting MPs is allocated share of £2M to develop policies
- funding for election campaigns - subsidies are given to parties to help with costs
16
Q
What reforms have there been to party funding?
A
- Political Parties, Elections and Referendums act PPERA 2000 - spending limit on party spending in GE & donations over £5k must be declared
- Politcal parties and elections act PPEA 2009 - allowed the Electoral commission to investigate cases and impose fines and increased requirements for establishing the source of political donations
17
Q
How does the party leader effect electoral outcomes?
A
- media coverage is v. focused on the characteristics of the party leader
- Leaders whose personalities make it difficult to connect to voters e.g. Brown or impress voters e.g. Miliband are likely to have disappointing electoral results
18
Q
How does the funding effect electoral outcomes?
A
- clear advantages to the Cons - wealthy donors
- traditionally Lab had trade unions but due to trade union act there are restrictions
19
Q
How do the policies effect electoral outcome?
A
- appealing and well thought out policies e.g. New Labour have much greater electoral appeal than poorly crafted policies e.g. dementia tax 2017
20
Q
How does party record effect electoral outcomes?
A
- governments are judged on their record
e.g. Major 1997 - full of sleaze
e.g. 1978 Winter of Discontent under Lab control
21
Q
How does the media effect electoral outcome?
A
- support from key newspapers such as the sun may be helpful
- social media is increasingly important e.g. Corbyn’s online campaign
22
Q
How does election campaigns effect electoral outcome?
A
- well crafted election campaign can help secure win e.g. 1997 new lab
- a poorly crafted election can hinder e.g. 2017 May
23
Q
Who is the SNP and what are the policies?
A
- Scottish National Party
- Independence for Scotland
- won a majority 2011 Scottish Parliament - allowing for the referendum in 2011
- SNP lost 14 seats 2017
24
Q
Who are UKIP and what are the policies?
A
- UK Independence Party
- ‘hard’ Breixt
- anti-immigration
- 2014 won 24 seats
25
Q
who are Plaid Cymru and what are the policies?
A
- Independence for Wales
- increased investment in Wales
26
Q
Who are the DUP and what are the policies?
A
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Northern Ireland to remain in the UK
- Pro-Brexit
- 2010 won 10 seats
27
Q
Who are the green party and what are the policies?
A
- environmental protections
- investment in public services
- 2017 won 1 seat
28
Q
What is a two party system?
A
- two significant political parties compete for power
- typical product of FPTP
- 2017 Con & Lab won over 80% of the vote
29
Q
What is a multi party system?
A
- multiple significant political parties compete for power
- typical product of proportional voting systems
- LD held significant positions in the gov form 2010-2015
