Class and Voting Flashcards
What is a social class?
a group of individuals who share a common position within society
What are the 6 socio-economic classes?
A B C1 C2 D E
Who are the socio-econoomic group A ?
higher professional, managerial, administrative
Who are the socio-econoomic group B?
intermediate professional, managerial, administrative
Who are the socio-econoomic group C1?
supervisory clerical, other non-manual
Who are the socio-econoomic group C2?
skilled manual
Who are the socio-econoomic group D?
semi-skilled and unskilled manual
Who are the socio-econoomic group E?
residual, casual worker,s people reliant on state benefits
In the 1960’s what did Pulzer conclude?
that ‘class is the basis of British Party politics; all else is embellishment and detail’
Who in the 1960’s concluded that ‘class is the basis of British Party politics; all else is embellishment and detail’?
Pulzer
Why in the 1960’s did Pulzer conclude that ‘class is the basis of British Party politics; all else is embellishment and detail’?
this is because the 1960’s were a period of high partisan alignment and class alignment
How have relationships between class an voting been undermined by broader societal changes since Pulzer made his comments in the 1960’s? (3)
- decline in traditional heavy and manufacturing industries
- rise of the service sector
- Women’s role in society
Between 1955-1996 how did employment in the
- service sector increase
- manufacturing employment decrease?
- service sector increases from 36%-76% of all workers
- manufacturing employment feel from 43% to 18%
Between what years did employment in the service sector increase from 36%-76% and manufacturing employment fall from 43% to 18%?
1955-1996
By 1996 how many worked in heavy industry?
0.9%
in 1996 what types of industries were transferred to the private sector?
many nationalised industries
e.g-steel, gas, water
what percentage increase was there of people who were self-employed between 1979-1990?
75%
Why was there a 75% increase between 1979-1990 of people who were self-employed?
due to more women who came into the workforce
Why did Labours core support become more difficult to identify ?
due to the decline of male dominated, labour intensive and heavily unionised industries because of the emergence of the less unionised service sector
Around the time of the decrease in core support for Labour, what did Ivor Crewe talk about?
the “old working class” and the rise of the “new working class”
What was the privatisation process and the introduction of competition to many areas said to do?
said to make people more individualistic and less intone with the kind of social engineering favoured by Labour
What was one significant factor that made some in the working class feel more middle class?
the extension of she ownership
What was the extension of share ownership ,which was one factor that made some in the working class feel more middle class , a part of a process of ?
the process of embourgeoisement
What did the Housing Act 1980 do?
gave long-term council house tenants the ‘right to buy- their homes at discounts of 50-70% of the market value
Why did the Conservative government want to allow the predominantly working class people living in council houses to become ‘owner-occupiers’?
as they would be a group who would be far more likely to identify with the Conservative party at general elections
How is the Alford Index calculated?
from subtracting the percentage of non-manual Labour from the percentage of manual voters voting Labour
By what percentage did the Alford Index decrease from in 1964 and 1997?
42% in 1964
22% in 1997
What voters did Margret Thatcher attract?
c2 voters ‘working-class tories’
What voters under Tony Blair did Labour attract?
AB voters
For David Denver, what did the 1997 election with its 10+ swing underline the validity of ?
the validity of the dealignment thesis
Why was there a greater volatility and swing in the 1997 general election to Labour?
this is because long term factors such as social class should remain relatively constant over time and a decline in the influence of such factors should therefore result in greater volatility and greater swings
in the 2010 general election who voters did the Labour party lose?
c2’s
D’s
E’s
What percentage of C2 voters voted Labour and Conservatives, did they gain or lose?
Labour-29% (-11)
Conservative- 37% (+4)
What percentage of AB and DE voters did Labour and Conservatives have ?
Labour AB-26%
Conservative AB-39%
Labour DE-40%
Conservative DE-31%
