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Edexcel A Level Politics > C1: Voting Behaviour & the Media > Flashcards

C1: Voting Behaviour & the Media Flashcards

1
Q

Who were the main candidates in the 1979 election?

A

Margaret Thatcher & Jim Callaghan

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2
Q

What was the Conservative result to the 1979 election?

A

339 seats, 43.9% of popular vote

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3
Q

What was Thatcher’s majority after the 1979 election?

A

43 seats

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4
Q

What was the Labour result to the 1997 election?

A

418 seats, 43.2% of popular vote

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5
Q

Who were the main candidates in the 1997 election?

A

Tony Blair & John Major

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6
Q

What was Blair’s majority after the 1997 election?

A

179 seats

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7
Q

What was the turnout of the 1979 election?

A

76%

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8
Q

What was the turnout of the 1997 election?

A

71.4%

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9
Q

Who were the main candidates in the 2010 General Election?

A

David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg

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10
Q

What was the Liberal Democrat result of the 2010 election?

A

57 seats, 23% of popular vote

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11
Q

What was the turnout to the 2010 election?

A

65.1%

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12
Q

What are the main three factors that decide the outcomes of elections?

A

Party policy & manifestos
The election campaigns
The wider political context

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13
Q

Why did manifesto & policy turn the 1979 election towards Thatcher?

A

Both manifestos were very moderate - when Jim Callaghan warned of a lurch to the right it had little crediblity

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14
Q

Why did the election campaigns in 1979 cause Thatcher to win?

A

Conservatives had 2 advertising experts - Gorden Reece & Tim Bell
Thatcher also turned down a televised debate with Callaghan since she thought she’d lose

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15
Q

Why did the wider political context in 1979 work to Thatcher’s advantage?

A

Callaghan had a minority government & had failed to deal with militant Trade Unions in the ‘winter of discontent’.

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16
Q

Why did manifestos work to Blair’s advantage in 1997?

A

Blair won the endorsement of the press, notably the sun and the times.
He also abandoned hard-left policies such as nationalisation and strengthening Trade Union powers.

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17
Q

Why did the election campaigns lead to Blair’s victory in 1997?

A

Labour had a huge professional vote-winning propaganda machine run by Alastair Campbell & Peter Mandelson

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18
Q

What stat proves that Labour’s campaign in 1997 wasn’t the main reason for victory?

A

Labour’s share of the vote increased on average by 12.5% in seats it targeted, but by 13.4% on average where it didn’t target

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19
Q

What did the wider political context to do help Blair win the election?

A

The ‘Black Wednesday’ Catastrophe hurt John Major’s government reputation immeasurably, and the ‘back to basics’ scandals further reinforced this sentiment.

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20
Q

How did policy help Cameron win the 2010 election?

A

All three parties had similar promises to eliminate the budget deficit (£163 billion)
However, people saw Labour’s policies as overspending, and did not trust Brown with the economy.

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21
Q

How did campaigns help Cameron win the 2010 election?

A

Gordon Brown’s meeting with a woman in Rochdale, wher he called her a ‘bigoted woman’ without realising he was still mic’ed up.
Furthermore, the TV debated helped the Liberal Democrats come across well, as Nick Clegg saw huge popularity from these debate performances.

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22
Q

How did the wider political context help Cameron win the 2010 election?

A

Brown was seen as indecisive after wavering over whether to call an election in 2007 (Bottle it Brown)
Brown was severely hurt by the 2007-8 financial crash

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23
Q

What stats could explain why Cameron was unable to secure an overall majority?

A

Conservatives only had a 3% lead on Labour in a poll over whose economic policy was better (26% to 29%)

24
Q

What is class dealignment?

A

The idea that people no longer identify as a certain social class, and their voting will not be affected by this.

25
Q

What effect did class-based voting typically have?

A

Upper classes would vote Conservative, Lower classes would vote Labour, Middle classes would decide the winner

26
Q

What event was a large recognition of class dealignment in the 1990s?

A

The creation of New Labour - appealed to traditional base but also middle classes

27
Q

What is partisan dealignment?

A

The idea that people are no longer loyal to a certain political party, and rather will vote on an election-by-election basis.

28
Q

What is rational choice theory?

A

The idea that people will vote based on which choice will most directly benefit them

29
Q

What is governing competency?

A

The perceived ability of a political party or incumbent government to manage the affairs of state effectively.

30
Q

What is the economic voting model?

A

The idea that people will support a governing party if it has managed the economy effectively.

31
Q

Why has perception of political leaders become more important in modern times?

A

Politics has become more personalised and presidential

32
Q

How does gender typically affect voting preference?

A

Historically, women used to be more likely to vote Conservative than men.
Since Blair, women have been slightly more likely to vote Labour than men.

33
Q

How does gender affect likelihood to vote?

A

It doesn’t - 66% of men & 64% of women voted in 2010.

34
Q

How does age affect voting habits?

A

Older people are more likely to vote Conservative.
Older people are more likely to vote - 76% of 65+ voted in 2010, compared with 44% of 18-24.

35
Q

How does ethnicity affect voting habits?

A

Ethnic minorities are more likely to vote Labour. In 2010, they preferred Labour to the Conservatives by 60 to 16 percent.

36
Q

How does region affect voting habits?

A

There is a strong regional bias to voting habits. Most voters in the South will vote Conservative, whereas northern and urban areas (including London) will typically vote labour.

37
Q

What are the four social classes?

A

AB - Professional & managerial
C1 - Supervisory, administrative
C2 - Skilled manual occupations
DE - unskilled manual occupation + unemployed

38
Q

What are the main forms of media that have effects on elections?

A

Newspapers - always endorse a political party at elections
Television - hosts debates between leaders

39
Q

How many people watched the 2010 election leader’s debate?

A

9.6 million people

40
Q

What is the most circulated newspaper in the UK?

A

The Metro

41
Q

What is the effect of opinion polls?

A

They become an integral part of election strategy for political parties

42
Q

What proves the polls are not always accurate?

A

They failed to predict John Major’s win in 1992
They thought the Conservatives wouldn’t win a majority in 2015

43
Q

What has been the effect of the internet on political campaigning?

A

It vastly extends the reach of political campaigns

44
Q

What percentage of 18-24 year olds rely almost entirely on online news sources?

A

79% in 2015

45
Q

How much did the Conservatives spend on Facebook advertising in 2015?

A

£100,000 a month

46
Q

Who was recruited to manage the press for Blair in the 1990s?

A

Alastair Campbell

47
Q

What is an issue with the effect of the media on politics?

A

Newspaper owners are interested in circulation & cannot be held to account like politicians can

48
Q

Which is less biased in political coverage: TV or newspapers?

A

TV - BBC is notoriously non-partisan

49
Q

Which newspapers are strongly partisan?

A

Telegraph - Conservative
Guardian - Labour

50
Q

What’s the notorious slogan used by the Sun in 1992?

A

It’s the sun wot won it

51
Q

What percentage of the voter base found television to be their main influence on voting in 2015?

A

62%

52
Q

How does the media reinforce, rather than change, political views?

A

People often buy & read newspapers that agree with them rather than those that present alternative opinion
Social media is often for trivial politics rather than real debate

53
Q

In 2019, for every 10 years older a person is, what was the likelihood they voted Conservative?

A

9 points increase

54
Q

What stat proves that partisan dealignment is a real thing?

A

In 2019, Conservatives got between 40-50% of the vote in all 4 social class groups

55
Q

What was the highest election turnout since 2000?

A

2017 - 69%

Edexcel A Level Politics (18 decks)

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