component 1

Question 1

what are elections with high voter turnout?

Answer 1

1992: 77.7%
indyref 2014: 84%

Question 2

which elections bad low voter turnout?

Answer 2

2019: turnout was 67%

Question 3

whuch referendums had low voter turnout?

Answer 3

2011 av ref 42.2%
welsh further legislative powers 2011 35%

Question 4

what are the benefits and drawbacks of the recall of MPs act?

Answer 4

benefit: can hold representatives to account: MP peter bone recalled following a 6-week suspension from the house following bullying allegations
drawbacks: petitions aren’t initiated because MPs have resigned. for example, june 2023 boris johnson resigned before the committee of privileges could decide on a punishment for partygate - likely a 90 day suspension triggering recall
petition wasn’t triggered: 2021 claudia webb wasn’t recalled for harassment.
constituents don’t have the power of recall themselves.
2018 the electoral commission decided that there were problems with the transparency and length of the process

Question 5

how does fptp fail to deliver proportional representation?

Answer 5

• 2015 SNP gained 1.5 million votes, only 4.7% of te votes and 56/59 seats
• however, UKIP gained 4 million votes (12.6%) but gained only one seat
  increases safe seats and by consequence wasted votes: in 2015 21 seats were won by more than 50% of the population and in 2017 that increased to 35

Question 6

what is the effect of compulsory voting?

Answer 6

• Austrailia implemented it, 2019 92% of those eligible voted
  HOWEVER
• could be seen as an infringement upon rights to force people to vote: not voting may be a political statement or may not feel educated enough to vote
• most countries that adopt compulsory voting abandon it:

Question 7

what are the disads of direct democracy and ads of representative democrcay?

Answer 7

• Impractical and expensive, achievable in relatively small communities
  
  • The Cabinet Office estimated that the total cost of the 2016 EU referendum was in excess of £140m.
  • originated in athens and was more suited to their smaller community. democracy works best in meeting together in a single place
    > therefore, representative democracy is a much more practical alternative
    >
• Voters may not be experts on the important issues they have direct voting on, also direct democracy is time consuming
  
  • if voters have to continuously be voting this may take away from their duties and jobs. in athens it was much simpler for men to participate in direct democracy as slaves and workers did most of the work and women looked after the family, this is due to a difference in cultural theory
• voters are not experts on all topics and representatives have more political education, experience and expertise
  
  • representative democracy ensures that policies that are better suited for the public BREGRET POLLS REVELAED IN MARCH 2024 57% OF VOTERS BELIEVE THAT THE DECISION TO LEAVE THE EU WAS WRONG
  • voters may be easily manipulated, for example, johnsons’ £350 million a week. a day after brexit referendum the most googled question was what is brexit. the campaign group vote leave broke electoral law and were fined
• Effectiveness of direct democracy might depend on the size of the electorate and the nature of the issue.
  
  • lack of turnout for referendums: national assembly for wales referendum turnout 2011: 35%. 1998 greater London authority referendum turnout 34%.
  • increased use of referendums can encourage apathetic voters
  • furthermore excessive engagement may lead to deep divisions in society

Question 8

what is a referendum?

Answer 8

• a vote to the public via direct democracy on a single issue
• Scottish independence referendum
  
  • called in response to public pressure, the majority SNP government allowed the indy ref
• brexit referendum
  
  • most people did not understand the complexity of the issue. most googled question the day after was what is the eu
  • vote leave campaign and leave eu campgain did illegal activity. vote leave fined
  • supreme court needed to uphold decision is enforced by parliament
  • public pressure: conservative party held the referendum because of pressures from UKIP, would lose voters from UKIP
• referendums provide legitimacy for constitutional changes that affect the location of power and sovereignty
• parliament is soverign, do not have to follow the will of the referendum

Question 9

are referendums good for representative democracy?

Answer 9

• yes
  
  • encourages participation and education, shown in Scottish referendum. this enhances legitimacy and consent in the political system
    
    • brexit: most people were uneducated and there was misinformation. Johnson brexit bus ‘£350 million to the EU a week’
  • provide a clear answer to political issues and demonstrate the people’s political will
    
    • however, arguably voters will is not being shown properly because of misinformation - even though there is an electoral commission they re not properly fulfilling their purpose
  • referedums are not legally binding and advisory, UK now regret brexit and many parties had initially promised a second vote which would have been possible
    
    • this would undermine the purpose of accountability and political will
• no
  
  • turnout for some referendums has been low due to voter apathy - possibly from the excessive use of referendums. this undermines the legitimacy of the decision and the effectiveness of direct democracy
    
    • welsh primary legislative power for wales: 35.6% turnout
  • close results are divisive such as brexit
  • govt decides when to call a referendum and on what.
    
    • scotland hollyrood has no power to call another independence referendum
  • undermines parliamentary soverignty as decisions have to be followed
  • questions are too complex for a referendum

Question 10

what is authority?

Answer 10

rightful authority to govern, because the person has passed the specific criteria needed to govern

Question 11

what is power?

Answer 11

ability to actually carry out government actions

Question 12

what is civic responsibility?

Answer 12

• responsibilities that can be enforced by law for example paying taxes and serving on a jury
• voting isn’t legally enforced in the UK but are expected of citizens

Question 13

what is an example of a restriction of freedom

Answer 13

• public order bill 2023 created after just stop oil and infringes on the rights of some protestors
• 2022 johnsons’ rwanda scheme

Question 14

what us a two and a half party system?

Answer 14

• two and a half party system: a third smaller party can sometimes hold the balance of power between two more dominant parties

Question 15

does the ECHR protect rights?

Answer 15

NO
- have stopped rwanda flights because people hve the HR to appeal in the country they are in.
- the echr stopped abu qatadar being deported
- however abu qatadar was eventually deported

• in theory it could be ignored, prisoner voter was ignored for a long time

Question 16

do pressure groups effectively protect rights?

Answer 16

yes:
- can educate the public for example liberty against ID cards
- can support individuals by suing the government Mossam beig
- insider groups know their access points and may have leverage
- demonstrations/ protests may raise awareness

• dont have the power to make things happen, their influence ultimately depends on insider access (HR GPs tend to be outsiders) and ideological compatibility

Question 17

how effectively does parliament protect rights?

Answer 17

yes:
- passed the HR
- passed the equality act
- can scrutinse govt actions (pmqs, sc)
- lords does oppose legislation for example rwanda bill 2024

no:
- pRliamentary soverignty means that HRA isnt entrenched
- has passed laws that ignore ECHR/ HRA with a declaration of incompatibility
- bc of FPTP govts have majorities that contain supine backbenchers and can agress to dreadful laws. if its in the manifesto lords wont oppose it

Question 18

is the UK a two and a half party system?

Answer 18

• no: 2017 conservatives and labour had the highest vote share (72.4%)
• yes: smp still has strong presence, if the two major parties are able to form majority governments

Question 19

what are the barriers to entry in a multiparty system in the UK for smaller parties

Answer 19

• political duopoly through majority of 20th century caused by class based voting and partisan alignment
• house of commons is elected by fptp which makes it difficult to gain representation and lack the depth of support that major parties have across the country- there are electoral strongholds
• many believe that voting for a minority party is a wasted
• minortiy parties face a lack of funding

Question 20

what has the UKIP/Brexit party achieved?

Answer 20

• 2004 european parliament elections achieved 16.1% of the vote
• when nigel farage became leader in 2006 it began to increase in support amongst the white working class, opposed the EU and further immigration
  
  • 2014 European elections beat labour and conservatives with 26% of the vote and 24 seats
• in 2015 achieved 12.6% of the vote but won only 1 seat
• single-issue focus: lost their seat from the 2015 election and only achieved 1.8% of the vote. 2019 achieved 2%
• impact has been significant since UKIP were able to influence David Cameron into committing to the eu referendum

Question 21

what has the snp achieved?

Answer 21

STRONG INFLUENCE
- 2015 won 56/59 Scottish seats and 50% of the popular vote
- in 2019 won 48 seats
- strong influence in Hollyrood: free university tuition, bus travel is free for under 22s unlike in the rest of the U. est their own response to covid, raising their profile
- influence in Westminster: SNP lead calls for a cease-fire in gaza
LACK OF INFLUENCE
- the Scottish government is constrained by the UK supreme court. SC blocked sturgeon’s decision to call another referendum. furthermore, gina miller case 2017 demonstrated that the Scottish parliament did not have to be consulted over legislation withdrawing from the EU even though scotland had voted decisively to remain in the EU
- 2023 Westminster government blocked a Scottish bill implementing self-identification

Question 22

what is the political parties, elections and referendums act 2000?

Answer 22

• designed to encourage greater transparency and fairness
• independent electoral commission set up to record and make public how political parties are funded
• amount a political party can spend in a constituency during an election is limited to £30k
• political parties must register large scale donations (over 7,500) with the electoral commission
• must not accept donations from non-uk citizens

Question 23

what are the criticisms of how political parties are funded?

Answer 23

• conservatives have a massive advantage. in the 2019 general election 63% of all donations went to the conservatives
• elitist: the brexit party received 4.2m from individual donors, whilst labour only received £159k shows the disproportionate influence of the wealthy
• 93% of donations for labour came from trade unions showing that labour is closely associated with trade unions

Question 24

how are political parties funded (govt grants)?

Answer 24

• get £2m policy development grants to all main parties so they can employ policy advisors

Question 25

how are political parties funded (short money)?

Answer 25

• short money is allocated to the opposition parties for their work in the commons based on the number of the seats that they have. leader of the opposition is funded almost 800k for running of their office

Question 26

how are political parties funded (cranborne money)?

Answer 26

• subsidised the work of scrutiny carried out by opposition parties on the house of Lords

Question 27

how are political parties funded (campaigns and elections)?

Answer 27

• reliant on public funding
  
  • political party depends on the subscriptions of its party members and individual donations from benefactors

Question 28

what are the functions of political parties?

Answer 28

• selecting candidates to fight local, mayoral, regional and general elections
  
  • by providing candidates for election to public office, political parties contribute to the personnel for government
  • electing a party leader: in 2022 voted for Liz truss over rishi sunak
• policy formulation: policy commitment. In labour party a national policy forum consults with the party members over the development of a policy
• campaigning
• representation: for example, 43.6% of those who voted in 2019 felt their political opinions were represented by the conservatives parties play a key representative function: prevents the tyranny of the majority and gives the minority a voice

Question 29

should the state fund political parties?

Answer 29

-elitist democracy: refers to when the democrcatic system is controlled by the wealthy
NO
- weak no point: funding creates connections: Labour to the trade unions (received £5 million 400 thousand in total, £5 million from trade unions, conservatives to the big businesses. this connection would be broken by public funding. all political parties raise money through charging membership which increases public activism and engagement. with state funding there would be no incentive to do this
stronger yes point: this creates an elitist democracy because UKIP has lower membership than SNP and therefore the interests of the elite are more powerful
Weaker argument is weak because 70% of donors have been nobled
Stronger argument is strong because: in 2014 litters winners donated 6.4 million. Shows that with no limits people can disproportionately I,pact outcome

• weak yes point: - following cash for honours scandal in 2006-7 Blair commissioned the Philips report to investigate the case for party funding reform which concluded that there was a strong case for political parties to be funded primarily through taxation and limit of 50k donations from individuals and firms
• stronger no point: - state funding would limit political independence because the state is controlling their funding, limiting more radical or critical candidates and instead producing more moderate or pro- govt candidates
  Weaker argument is weak is because - in a free democracy people should be able to financially support any cause they wish, freedom of expression

weak yes point: give the electorate a fairer choice during the 2019 election, conservative and labour were responsible for 80.5% of total spending, disproportionate influence is reinforcing a duopoly
stronger no point: - 2019, brecit party spent £4 million on (13% of total funding) but received no seats and snp spent 24k but won 48. shows that winning seats is not dependent on money spent

• controversy around how much political parties can claim, if funding was based on electoral success labour and conservative would still dominate

Question 30

what are the features of the political parties?

Answer 30

• members who have similar political ideologies
• different factions

Question 31

has the UK become a multiparty democracy?

Answer 31

YES
yes point:
- power is shared by more than two parties in the devolved legislatures. snp has governed by itself
no point:
- Westminster parliament determines constitutional, foreign policy and defense issues. this parliament is dominated by labour and conservative. snp cannot fulfill their campaign promise of a second referendum without consent of Westminster
AO3: this is because of parliamentary sovereignty and not necessarily the power of third parties

no point: - in 2019, Labour and Conservative won 87.2% of the seats, showing their influence
yes point:
- smaller parties have influence through the political agenda, UKIP had one seat in 2015 but moved the conservative party towards a more euroscpetic direction

no point:
- whilst in 2015 lib dems entered coalition, support has recently been declining 11 Mps
- most seats have been for labour or conservatives since 1933
yes point:
+ smaller parties have been influential: lib dems coalition in 2010 and DUP supported conservative confidence and supply agreement
- snp has significant Westminster presence as seen in their motion for a ceasefire in gaza which lead to many labour MPs resigning over

Question 32

has two party dominance been eroded at westminster?

Answer 32

• social democratic party merged to form the liberal democrats and a centrist party which increased their political appeal
  
  • lib dems focused their attentions on key geographical areas where they had a strong chance of winning
  • opposition of Charles Kennedy to the Iraq war and nick clegg’s string campaign in 2010 boosted support for the lib dems
  • SNP won 50% of the Scottish vote in 20115 and gained 56/59 seats. in 2019 won 45% of Scottish vote and won 48 seats

Question 33

what are the advantages of FPTP?

Answer 33

+ clear choice between the two parties: 88% of voters belong to either labour or conservative
+ prevents coalitions, gives a legitimate government with a strong mandate and authority
+ excludes extremist parties from representation, unless their electoral support is not geographically concentrated
+ simple and easy to use

Question 34

what are the disadvantages of FPTP?

Answer 34

• EXCLUDES SMALLER PARTIES FROM FAIR REPRESENTATION, in the sense that a party which wins approximately, say, 10 per cent of the votes should win approximately 10 per cent of the legislative seats. UKIP received 13% of votes and 1 seat.
• WASTED VOTES which do not go towards the election of any candidate. Minority party supporters in the region may begin to feel that they have no realistic hope of ever electing a candidate of their choice. It can also be dangerous where alienation from the political system increases the likelihood that extremists will be able to mobilize anti-system movements.
• Creates a two party system of dominance, making the party choice on offer an illusion. This system restricts choice, lacks representations nd gives to much power to the legislative. It makes party choice an illusion because because it discourages potential supporters of third parties from voting for it
• claims to have good MP constituency links but other systems also have this benefit. under FPTP most MPs are elected on a plurality system. they are not truly representative of their constituency
• discriminates in favour of the two main parties which benefit from a winner’s bonus. doesn’t reflect what the electorate wants

Question 35

what are the advantages of SV?

Answer 35

• simple to understand and and easy to use
• encourages positive campaigning and moderate policies in order to gain preference votes
• maintains traditional links between MPs and their constituencies and MPs that are voted for have the support of their constituency
• penalises extremist parties
• returns single party majority similar to FPTP
• more proportionate than FPTP

Question 36

what are the disadvantages of SV?

Answer 36

• fewer wasted votes but does not ensure support of at least 50% of voters
• to succeed a candidate needs to be first preference of a substantial number of voters
• if there are more than two strong candidates voters need to choose their second preference tactfully or it will be wasted
• doesn’t produce very proportionate results and would still underrepresent small parties
• only lets voters express two choices, it is possible for a high number of first choices to be excluded and their second choice not in round two
• number of ballots rejected were highest in any nationwide electoral event in 2016

Question 37

what are the advantages of STV?

Answer 37

• capable of producing highly proportional outcomes
• increased turnout
• availability of several members means constituents can take their grievances to any member they wish
• gives voters more choice than any other system every single vote is valid
• fewer votes are wasted- most voters can recognise a representative they personally helped to elect
• no safe seat, candidates cannot afford to become complacent and no safe seats
• no negative campaigning in order to gain preferential votes

Question 38

what are the disadvantages of STV?

Answer 38

• unlikely to produce a strong and stable government without coalition.
  
  • however this is the purpose
• multimember constituencies may be divise because they encourage competition among party members
• counting results takes longer under STV
• prone to ‘donkey voting’ where electors vote for candidates in the order they appear on the ballot paper
• number of wasted votes is twice as high as Westminster fptp election

Question 39

what is stv’s effect on voter choice?

Answer 39

provides more voter choice, allows voters to differentiate between parties and candidates within the same party and fewer wasted votes offers greater probability to chose winning candidates because of its proportionality

Question 40

what is stvs effect on party representation?

Answer 40

• creates a multiparty outcome with five of the larger parties all achieving significant representation in the assembly therefore being awarded places in a power sharing executive therefore they may not get what they want instead they get a compromise
• DUP and sinn fein got exactly the same % of votes as seats

Question 41

what is stvs effect on government?

Answer 41

• often produces a coalition or minority government
• in NI the good Friday government requires that representatives of the main unionist and nationalist parties are included in the executive
• ensures joint participation to reduce the risk of violence

Question 42

what are the advantages of ams?

Answer 42

• balances need for constituency representation and electoral fairness
• broadly proportional and keeps the possibility of a single-party government
• electors can offer personal support for a candidate whilst also maintaining partisan loyalty
• list element is very proportionate
• each voter has a directly accountable single constituency representative
• each voter has at least one effective vote

Question 43

what are the disadvantages of ams?

Answer 43

• retention of single member constituency limits level of proportionality
• confusing because of two different types of representation, many representatives are accountable to the party leadership
• “overhang seats” where a party wins more seats because of the constituency vote than it is entitled to according to its proportional vote
• constituency representation is less effective than FPTP because of the larger size of constituencies and bevuase a proportion of the representatives have no constituency duties
• it can be complicated because voters have two different votes for different purposes

Question 44

what is ams’ effect on party representation?

Answer 44

• due to party list system favour of parties is more accurately represented
  
  • this prevents smaller parties from succeeding
• causes parties from the same ideology but different factions to emerge
• weak argument shows that ams has resulted in one party dominating snp in Scotland and labour in wales this is because majority of seats are decided by fptp and therefore is inherently unequal
• however ams does make a difference ensures that green party has a voice in hollyrood showing that voters know how to effectively use this system to ensure representation

Question 45

what are ams statistics?

Answer 45

in 2016 the conservatives received 7 constituency MSPs and 24 top-up MSPs and SNP received 59/63 seats from constituency MSPs and only 4 top-up MSPs. Thus, the top-up MSPs make sure the overall link between the percentage of votes and the percentage of seats is fairer.

Question 46

are referendums good for representative democracy?

Answer 46

• yes
  
  • encourages participation and education, shown in Scottish referendum. this enhances legitimacy and consent in the political system
    
    • brexit: most people were uneducated and there was misinformation. Johnson brexit bus ‘£350 million to the EU a week’
  • provide a clear answer to political issues and demonstrate the people’s political will
    
    • however, arguably voters will is not being shown properly because of misinformation - even though there is an electoral commission they re not properly fulfilling their purpose
  • referedums are not legally binding and advisory, UK now regret brexit and many parties had initially promised a second vote which would have been possible
    
    • this would undermine the purpose of accountability and political will
• no
  
  • turnout for some referendums has been low due to voter apathy - possibly from the excessive use of referendums. this undermines the legitimacy of the decision and the effectiveness of direct democracy
    
    • welsh primary legislative power for wales: 35.6% turnout
  • close results are divisive such as brexit
  • govt decides when to call a referendum and on what.
    
    • scotland hollyrood has no power to call another independence referendum
  • undermines parliamentary soverignty as decisions have to be followed
  • questions are too complex for a referendum

Question 47

what are referendums?

Answer 47

a vote to the public via direct democracy on a single issue

• referendums provide legitimacy for constitutional changes that affect the location of power and sovereignty
• parliament is soverign, do not have to follow the will of the referendum

Question 48

what factors will help pressure groups achieve success?

Answer 48

• wealth: financial resources means that pressure groups can employ researchers, have offices close to important points of government access. for example CBI represents 190,000 businesses and employs 100 policy researches which gives them a powerful voice
• insider status: institute of economic affairs . collaborate with government to provide advice on policies. for example, director of IEA claims that truss adopted several of their policies. Truss nominated the director for a peerage in her resignation honours list. The think thank had apparently incubated truss and heartened when they were junior mps.
  Shows how their close alliance provided an access point and open door to influence policy.
• celebrity leadership: emma watson is the face of the heforshe campaign for gender equality
• social media groups can provide cheap advertising for companies
• direct action/ civil disobedience. aim to create so much disruption that that the government feels compelled to act. for example during the Christmas period in 2022, rail, postal and NHS strikes caused widespread disruption.
  
  • but these strikes didn’t have a massive successful impact, strikes are still continuing
    
    • furthermore, movements like Just Stop Oil may have a regressive impact since they are reducing sympathy for the cause.

Question 49

how do regions influence support for tbe conservatives?

Answer 49

• conservative regions: south east has high homeownership and little tradition of trade unions. east anglia and the south coast- ethnically white rural parts of the UK are conservative strongholds
  
  • greater tory support for areas that have been ‘left behind’ because they used to have higher numbers of heavy industry and are appealed by euroscpetsicism. high numbers of D and E voters
  • west and east midlands there has been class dealignment and party dealignment. west: conservative support increased 18.8% between 2010 and 2019 and labour support declined by 4.8%. east midlands: conservative support increased 17.7% and labour went down by 7.3%
    HOWEVER WEST MIDLANDS ARE A SWING AREA, ALTHOUGH HAVE HISTORICAL,Y SUPPORTED LABOUR AND AS OF LATE SUPPORTED CONSERVATIVE 2024 MAYORAL ELECTION SHOWED 37.8% SUPPORT FOR LABOUR AND 37.5% SUPPORT FOR CONSERVATIVE, VOTED OUT THE POPULAR INCUMBENT

Question 50

how do regions influence support for lanour?

Answer 50

• labour: dominated ethnically diverse big cities with larger working class populations and centres of industrial production: south wales, greater manchester, London. Welsh: 2019 40.9%
• London is a labour stronghold (vote increased 9.2% 2010-2019 despite losing 4 elections) because of its pro- European stance which is more popular in a diverse city like london
• labour used to have a lot of support in Scotland (41/59 seats in 2010) but lost this due to the increase in popularity of the snp. 1/59 labour in 2019

Question 51

how do regions influence support for the liberal democrats?

Answer 51

• liberal democrats, lack of concentrated support. oakland and shetland has always returned lib dem MP since 1950s. rural wales and far north of Scotland
  
  • support has decreased in rural wales. 2017 and 2019 didn’t return a single lib dem mp 2010: 7 libdem seats 2015 1 libdem seat 2019 3 libdem seats

Question 52

how does age influence support?

Answer 52

• home owners are usually older. 57% support tories and 22% support labour
• social renters: 33% conservative and 45% labour
• older people more likely to vote Tory: triple lock: pensions keep increasing
• 18-24 year olds: 2019: tory: 19% labour: 62%
  
  • younger votes are more concerned with social justice and the environment and welfare state labour commitment to abolish tuition fees in 2017 and 2019 encouraged support
• middle age families would vote labour: they use the welfare state
• 65+: 2019: tory: 64% labour: 17%
  
  • older voters are likely to be more financially conservative, strong national defence and lower taxation
• 2017 and 2019 elections suggest that age is the most important factor
• however turnout is important. 18-24 year olds make up 5% if the population and 47% voted in 2019. 65+ make up 19% and 74% voted in 2019
• parties success depends on when they are able to reach beyond their core age
  support. in 1979 thatcher had a 1% lead over conservatives amongst 18-24 year olds. 1997 blair had a 5% lead in 65+
• crossover point: 2017 54 2019 47

Question 53

how does ethnicity influence support?

Answer 53

• commonwealth immigrant communities were C2, D, E and more likely to vote labour because of its high spending on welfare state and trade union involvement.
• labour also committed to multiculturalism, race relations act 1965, 1968, 1976
  
  • conservatives: enoch powell’s speech on limiting immigration appeared hostile
• Indian exception: culturally conservative, East African Indians are the richest minority
• 2017 election: tories won 5/75 most ethnically diverse constituencies, but labour won 46/73 seats in London which is 45% white British
• 2019 election: labour vote share of ethnic minorities: 64% but 32.1% of the national vote. conservative vote of ethnic minorities: 20% but 43.6% nationally
• conservatives are increasing their British Asian support: in 2019 West Midlands increased conservative 18.8% from 2010. However, in the 2024 mayoral elections 37.8% support for labour and 37.5% other issues like governing competence are more influential than ethnicity

Question 54

how does education influence support?

Answer 54

• traditionally those with higher qualifications have voted conservative but in 2017 52% of voters with no qualifications voted for conservatives and 35% of people with no qualifications voted for labour.
• labour increased their vote share in the most qualified. 48% of those w degrees vote labour. 33% vote for conservatives
• higher degrees have gone uni and want more social liberalness. Culturally want more liberal values
• those w only a levels more likely to vote Tory because of conservative cultural values

Question 55

how does gender influence support?

Answer 55

• 1979: women voted 47% conservative and 35% labour. men voted 43% conservative and 40% labour
• in 2019: conservatives: male - 46%, women - 43%. labour: male - 31% and female 34%

Question 56

what was labour vs conservative manifesto in the 1997 election?

Answer 56

• labours loss in 1992 according to blair was because of the tax bombshell and therefore labour pledged to not raise basic or higher rate of tax
• pledges on their card: cut class sizes to 30 or under for 5, 6 and 7 year olds (by using money from the assisted places scheme). Fast-track punishment for persistent young offenders (by halving the time from arrest to sentencing). Cut NHS waiting lists by treating an extra 100,000 patients (as first step by releasing £100 million saved from NHS red tape). Get 250,000 under-25 year-olds off benefit and into work (by using money from a windfall levy on the privatised utilities). No rise in income tax rates (cut VAT on heating to 5% and inflation and interest rates as low as possible).
• being tough on crime and no rise in income taxes won over traditionally conservative voters
• proposals of constitutional reform for Scotland and wales , HoL reform - gave the campaign a se se of radicalism
• conservative: giving citizens choice and control and further reducing the role of the state. tax allowance proposal, non working partner could pass their tax-free allowance to their working partner. most women worked and showed that the conservatives didn’t represent the UK

Question 57

what was labour vs conservatives image in the 1997 election?

Answer 57

• abandoned caluse iv in 1995 and showed a more centrist direction and distanced itself from left wing history and trade union membership
• tony blair was the face of the image, appealed to middle class and younger voters. britpop image and cool brittania
• conservatives were a divided party over the eu. eurosceptics micheal howard and europhiles micheal Heseltine
• conservative sleaze: major wanted britishh people to ‘get back to basics’ including traditional family values. british tabloids exposed a series of sex scandals. also cash for questions scandal

Question 58

what was conservative vs labour’s leadership in the 1997 election?

Answer 58

• blair seen as young, charismatic and even cool big beast of the labour frontbenchers. authority over the party with new labour
• john major mocked in cartoons and tv shows as being grey and uncharismatic
• major has a small majority and found it difficult to control his cabinet - called them bastards- found it difficult to control backbenchers - rebelled against the whip over maastricht and lost his majority by withdrawing the whip.
• issued ‘put up ot shut up’ to his mps and the eurosceptic mp john redwood challenged him for leadership - major won. tony blair said ‘i lead my party and he follows his’ this reinforces the idea that major was a weak leader

Question 59

what was labour and coservatives impact on gender in 1997?

Answer 59

labour swing in both gender:
MEN 45% LAB 31% CON.
WOMEN 44% LAB AND 32% CON
- the larger increase in the labour vote was amongst women, increasing by 10 rather than 8

• women had previously voted conservatives more for fiscal responsibility - this was undone by major
• women were less impacted because no more thatcher, Thatcher had appealed to the housewives’ vote by promising fiscal stability
• increase in women working and particularly working in the public sector
• blair was more attractive than major

Question 60

how did age influence voting behaviour in the 1997 election?

Answer 60

• labour was ahead in every age bracket
• labour vote increased by 12 points for 25-34 year olds
• increased by 4% in the 45-54
• 44 of 18-44 year olds voted for labour

Question 61

how did ethnicity influence voting behaviour in 1997 election?

Answer 61

labour lead amongst all ethnicities
- only 10 point lead for white voters
- 82% black voters for labour vs 12% for conservatives
- asain voters prefer labour 66% to conservative 22%

Question 62

how does region influence support for labour and conservative?

Answer 62

• labour gained and conservatives fell in every region. conservative vote collapsed in London by 14 points, and in the south east (tory stronghold) 13 point drop
• only in the south west, south east and east anglia the conservatives got more votes, (only 1 point in east anglia)

Question 63

how did class dealignment impact support for labour 1997?

Answer 63

• “must labour lose?” because of embourgisement, decline in manufacturing industries and trade union membership. conservatives working class support increased because of ability to buy their own council house.
• new labour created the mondeo man - c1 aspirational middle class who were swing voters and targeted ruthlessly by labour
• 41% of ABs tory 31% lab
• C2 50% labour and 27% tory
• DE 59% lab 21% tory

Question 64

are civil liberties effectively protected in the UK?

Question 65

collective vs individual rights

Question 65

what happened in the 2010 election?

Answer 65

• conservatives couldnt get an independent majority and so hard to form a coalition - for the first time since 1945.
• turnout was 65.1% and coalition majority was of 77
• conservatives achieved 306 seats and 36.1% of the vote
• labour achieved 258 seats and 29.0% of the population
• libdems achieved 57 seats and 23.0% of the vote
• campaignnone of them had led an election campaign before
  • engaged in televised debates =. libdems achieved a breakthrough in the polls. nick clegg performed very well: cleggmania 33% for conservatives, libdems 30%, 28% for labour
  • libdems vote share increased by 1%, but a net loss of five seats, but this was still their largest popular vote since their creation
  • other parties vote share: 35%
• image
  
  • brown described gillian duffy who was a lifelong labour voter as a bigoted women in rochdale which was a labour-libdem marginal seat
  • after 2003 there was decline in support for labour because of invasion of Iraq
  • cameron was seen as young and charismatic and won conservative leadership 68-32
  • cameron wanted a shift away from the right and towards more centrist policies, wanted to improve public sercies, redistricute wealth and combat poverty. cared about civil liberties and climate change.
  • 2006 conservatives has a 5-7% lead over labour
• governing competence
  
  • two car bombs in London and a vehicle driven into Glasgow airport 48 hours into browns term. brown responded swiftly through support for councils and flood dfences
  • outbreak of foot and mouth disease was quickly contained and government support increased
  • people felt like brown was bad at making decisions because he didn’t call an election when he took a lead in the polls. then there was a shift in support for the conservatives. eventually decided there would be no election before 2009. by December 2007 conservatives had a lead of 13%
  • brown had promised economic stewardship and days of ‘boom and bust’ were over but this was undermined in 2008 when poll ratings suffered from a declined in consumer confidence
    
    • brown responded to this so well and was widely praised. rallied the party at party conference in 2008 and said ‘this is no time for novice’ aimed at cameron
  • james purnell, secretary of state for work and pensions resigned and said that conservative leadership was made more likely under brown
  • 2010 Patricia hewitt and geoffrey hoon held a secret ballot for labour leadership - was unsuccessful
• media
  
  • sun switched its support from labour to conservatives
  • dec 2009 polls showed labour lead of 9 and so hoped they might win

Question 66

How does class impact voting behaviour?

Answer 66

AB- professional/managerial degrees will earn more. Historically have voted Tory but some have becaome culturally wing and social values.
CDE have historically voted labour because they earned less and therefore wanted more protection
CDES dont recognise themselves as working class embourgesiment and me floating voters
Red wall- traditionally working class and have got richer over time so will now vote conservative

Question 67

do opinion polls have a positive impact on democracy?

Answer 67

opinion polls: tests the opinions of the public on a certain issue or their voting intentions

• opinion polls may give inaccurate information and so parties can make decisions on inaccurate information
  for example, in 2015 56 national polls suggested that people wanted to remain in the EU and 10 suggested no. opinion polls have a -/+ 3 margin for accuracy
  + political parties can use them to inform their decision making as it gives them a good sense of the population
  weaker argument is incorrect as exit polls have been accurate: showed that boris johnson would win a large majority in 2019, predicted a Conservative majority in the House of Commons of 86 seats, very close to the final 80-seat margin of victory.

+ opinion polls encourage political participation and public debate FOR EXAMPLE, INDEY REF POLLS INDICATED IT WOULD BE A TIGHT CONTEST AND THIS ENCOURAGED TURNOUT OF 84.6%
- may make voters too complacent, if one side is ahead voting turnout may decline as in 2001

+ if opinion polls are largely negative towards a leader they may be removed, FOR EXAMPLE, YOUGOV POLL IN SEPT 2022 PUT LABOUR 33% AHEAD OF TORIES PROVOKING THEM TO REMOVE HER

• opinion polls can be manipulated by governments to call snap elections for example, labour have consistently had a double digit over the conservatives this may have deterred rishi sunak from calling an election. this indicates a democratic deficit as sunak is an unelected leader and low poll ratings show that it is a government that no one wants.

Question 68

what were the parties image in the 1979 election?

Answer 68

• callaghan had succeeded wilson and was less popular than willso
• April 1976 lost their formal majority because of the Scottish labour party
• lib-lab pact which ended in 1978
• sept 1978 economic growth was re-established and opinion polls showed a clear labour lead and was widely expected that calaghaan would call an elecyopn but he resisted these calls
• winter of discontent when water workers, ambulance drivers, sewage stagg and dustmen were involved in industrial action. CRISIS WHAT CRISIS

thatcher
- less experienced than callaghan so would avoid debates
- reputation as thatcher the milk snatcher
- image of a careful housewife and mother.
- economic approach: don’t spend money which you don’t have to avoid debt, careful housewife and mother
- thatcher’s personal unpopularity
- harold wilson said his wife was likely to vote conservative because the leader is a women

Question 69

what were the differences in the parties’ manifesto in 1979?

Answer 69

• the labour way is the better way: advocate for an increase in pensions and tax cuts
• public believed the conservatives would bring taxes down
• tory manifesto: promised to control inflation and keep trade unions in check
• wanted to reduce unemployment and labour isn’t working poster with long queues. when labour came to power unemployment was 2% and was 6% in 1978
• wanted to help people become homeowners

Answer 70

swing to conservatives of 5.2%, largest since 1945
- conservative won 339 seats compared to labour’s 269 seats

Question 71

did the labour party lose the 1979 election because of governing incompetence?

Answer 71

• winter of discontent showed that labour couldn’t deal with trade unions
• couldn’t properly deal with inflation
• unemployment inflation reached 9.3% in 1971-4 and 27% in 1975

Question 72

is print media an important influence on voting behaviour?

Answer 72

+ print media is in decline in the UK, readership declined from 21.9 million in 2010 to 10.4 million in 2018: fall to 52.5%

+ print media has limited reach with younger voters

+ the increase of broadcasts media means people are accessing news through alternative means

+ broadcast media is being challenged by online media with younger voters and lower class voters
since 2013 there as been an increase in social media

• print media is dominated by a small number of papers and have transformed ther business model to maintain leadership: majority of print media has moved online: times has a paywall model, guardian asks readers for donations, daily mail posts on snapchat. sun has 30.2 monthly online reads
• print media has wider reach with older voters and voters from the ABC1 class categories, who have higher levels of voter turnout. 41% of ABC1 use print media as their source of media compared to 34% of those in C2DE
• influence of social media is exaggerated, changes how the public access news not who they get it from: newspapers play a key role in breaking stories for example breaking the windrush story

Question 73

is social media influential

Answer 73

yes: social media has grown in importance, provides news updates quickly and encourages political debate. #partygate
no: social media isn’t reliable and only echos news from actual news channels. for example the windrush scandal was broken by the guardian and was spread online. unreliable information. israel-gaza war was documented primarily online which lead to a lot of misinformation

Question 74

is social media good for democracy?

Answer 74

+ social media encourages plurality in media and allows different opinions to be heard
- social media has little regulation for valid news and can lead to a lot of unreliable news for example in israel-gaza war has been mainly documented online and has lead to a lot of misinformation
- social media only shows news or shows news from the users political stance because of algorithms. this may prevent people from making their own opinion. alternatively you could say media is not biased it reflects its readers views.

Question 75

which electoral system is most beneficial for party representation?

Answer 75

STV: MOST REPRESENTATIVE
+ delivers a multimember constituency
+ removes the need for tactical voting as it is the most proportional system. - DUP and sinn fein got exactly the same % of votes as seats in 2022
- however it can be argued that it removes MP constituency links as it returns multimember constituencies, link between the elected and the electorate is weaker

AMS: SECOND MOST REPRESENTATIVE:
+ likely to produce a multiparty outcome because of party list feature, allows electorate to exercise partisan alignment. increasingly more important as third parties are capturing peoples issues more effectively than the main parties.
+ delivers a more proportional result because of the regional party list. in 2021 conservatives had 21.9% of the vote and gained 5 seats where as in the regional vote they gained 23.5% of the vote and 26 MSPs. this shows that the system seeks to make itself more proportional.
- system is unlikely to produce a strong stable government and instead will likely produce a coalition. this may mean that governments find it harder to pass laws. HOWEVER, THIS IS NOT TRUE IN SCOTLAND SNP HAVE A MAJORITY OF 64 WHILST THE CONSERVATIVES HAD 31 SEATS 26 OF WHICH CAME FROM MSPs.

SV:

Question 76

Which electoral system is most beneficial for voter choice?

Answer 76

STV: - great deal of voter choice, preferential voing system allows voters to differentiate between political parties and also candidates.
- STV results in fewer wasted votes and candidates are more likely to win

• AMS: allows voters to vote for different parties in the same election
• voters are likely to back a major party in the constituency round and back a smaller party in the regional vote
• SV: allows voters to select a first- and second-choice candidate. Thus, many voters can vote a preferred candidate as their first choice, and then a ‘main party’ candidate as their second candidate
• however, SV only lets voters express two choices
• increases tactical voting as voters have to guess which candidates will reach the second and third round

FPTP: may be argued that it offers voters a clear choice between the two main parties which would reduce wasted votes
- the importance of geographical voter concentration distorts voter choice. For example in 2015 whilst UKIP got 13% of the vote they only won one seat. This shows that the system unfairly penalises third parties and therefore forces voters to vote tactically which reinforces the political duopoly
- lots of safe seats which might encourage voter apathy and candidates might be complacent and not campaign

Question 77

which electoral system is most beneficial for government formation?

Answer 77

SV is likely to produce strong and stable single party governments
- however,

FPTP: likley to produce strong and stable governments because it reinforces the politicl duopoly
- gives a winners bonus
- produces landslife results which gives governments authority and a strong mandate
- HOWEVER, CAN PRODUCE COALITITIONS OR WEAK MAJORITY GOVENRMENTS. there isnt just one exception this has become a pattern. david cameron won only 305 seats and had to enter into coalition with the lib dems. in 2017 theresa may had a weak majority of 317 seats
- reinforces the political duopoly as third parties as penalised and as a result are given fewer seats and have less power than they would under a proportional system.

STV: produces a multiparty coalition power-sharing executive
+ this is its purpose, aims to produce representation in order to end the violence in northern ireland
- power sharing executive means that stormont is often suspended. in 2021 sinn fein resfused to power share with the DUP unless there is progress on the irish language legislation

AMS:
- aims to make it hard for a majority government to be formed so that it cannot challenge Westminster (like the snp are doing)
- due to likely minority or coalition governments being formed, therefore weakens mandate and causes a likely compromise

Question 78

what is the most influential political factor on voting behaviour?

Answer 78

• government competence

leadership
+ grey major vs charismatic and modern tony blair

lib dem and minority party leadership

the campaign

the maifesto: michael foors maifesto was the lingest suicide note in history

issue and instumental voting

Question 79

Is stv an effective system?

Answer 79

no: the weaker argument is that there are WASTED BALLOTS BECAUSE STV IS A DIFFICULT ELECTORAL SYSTEM. 2017 9,450 in 2022 11,074. This is twice as high as Westminster FPTP election.
this suggests that there is a democratic deficit which may undermine legitimacy. Voters may feel apathetic if their vote isn’t being counted because they used the ballot incorrectly
Yes: all votes are used, once a candidate is eliminated their votes are transferred to another candidate. Because stv is a preferential ranking system voters don’t have to vote tactically as their vote will go towards one of their preferred candidates in the end.
the argument that ballots are wasted is weaker because although there has been an increase it is only from 1.2% to 1.3%. The report on the May 2022 Northern Ireland assembly election by the electoral commission said that nearly all votes found the ballot easy to use.
The argument that all votes are is correct because 82% thought the election was well run this may encourage them to vote again in the future

DISAGREEMENT
yes: increased turnout
decreases voter apathy since they feel their vote will actually be counted and third parti3s have a chance of winning. As a result parties will have a strong mandate
No: unlikely to produce a strong and stable government because it was not designed for that purpose.

AGREEMENT:
no: system allows for donkey voting. Around 15-20% of voters behave like this according to voter analysis of Scotland local elections.
This undermines democracy as voters true intentions aren’t reflected. This may undermine legitimacy and the candidates mandate to rule
Yes: STV is a very proportional system and highly representative in 2017 DUP gained 35.96% of the vote and gained 36% of the seats.
This shows that stv is very effective at accurately representing parties, this prevents tyranny of the parties being able to dominate the executive and legislature. This system is especially beneficial for Northern Ireland as it has effectively stopped violence in the country, but this could also be beneficial in London where there are many safe seats and this prevents parties from gaining power. If stv was used here it may increase accurate representation.
The argument that stv allows for donkey voting is weaker to a greater extent

Question 80

Should STV replace FPTP?

Answer 80

YES

DISAGREEMENT:
no: stv produces proportional results in 2017 DUP won 35.96% of the vote and 36% of the seats, very proportional system. Over the past few years third parties have been gaining recognition and support for example, in 2015 UKIP gained 13% of the vote but only 1 seat. This shows that third parties are increasing in support but the electoral system of FPTP limits their power. Furthermore, this may encourage greet turnout as apathy may decrease due to th loss of safe seats and third parties will have greater choice
no: FPTP has the power to produce landslide results. 1997 labour won 418 seats, 63.4% of the seat share on only 43% of the vote. This allowed Tony Blair to meet minimum objections in parliament and get passed whatever he wanted. This is necessary for the Westminster parliament as parties need to take decisive and quick action and need to be strong to prevent votes of no condidence and gridlocks
The argument that stv is effective proportionality will encourage turnout I limited to a greater extent as stv has not encourage greater turnout TURNOUT 63% IN 2022 WHILST TURNOUT IN 2017 WAS 67% IN WESTMINSTER IN 2019
The argument that FPTP produces strong governments is stronger to a larger extent as they award large parties with a winners bonus which means they have the power to dominate legislation on a public mandate.

AGREEMENT:
no: FPTP system reinforces a political duopoly which reflect the to party split in the UK

No: fptp produces fewest wasted ballots and therefore upholds democracy
yes: stv has been received well by voters most of whom found voting to be easy according to a report by the electoral commission on the may 2022 ni election. Furthermore, wasted votes only accounted for 1.2% in 2017 and 1.3% in 2022 election. This may encourage voter turnout as the system is not too difficult for voters to understand, in fact 82% of voters felt the election was well run in 2022, this will, encourage them to vote again in the future.

Question 81

is ams an effective system?

Question 82

should ams replace fptp?

Answer 82

YES

no: FPTP offers clear choices and reflects the two party spilt in the UK. it is also much more easier to use than AMS, fewer wasted votes and switching to AMS may be difficult for voters wo are used to voting using FPTP
yes: AMS offers more opportunity for partisanship through its party list element. this means that broader issue focuses are likely to be represented

no: FPTP produces clear strong and stable governments which is exactly what Westminster needs
yes: ams is very proportional WON 45% OF THE VOTE AND 53 SEATS
the weaker argument is weak to a greater extent as FPTP has not been producing stong governments as of late as the scotland vote has largely been dominated by westmister

yes: ams ensures constituency and regional representation which is more than FPTP
no: FPTP is better at holding representatives to account. for example, MP peter bone was recalled to his constituency after being suspended for 6 weeks over bullying allegations
weaker argument is weak because under ams regional representatives are not directly elected by the voters.

Question 83

should sv replace fptp?

Question 84

is sv an effective system?