Component 1, Part 1- Electoral systems and Voting Behaviour and the Media (Chapter 3&4)

Question 1

What functions do Elections have? Provide 6 functions.

Answer 1

1) To choose a representative to speak on behalf of a community and to provide a link between them and those who take their decisions on their behalf.
2) Choosing the government: voters are choosing a government and granting in legitimacy.
3) Holding the government to account: Usually every 5 years a government has to face the electorate at a general election in order to renew its mandate to govern. The voters have the right to reject an unpopular government that is perceived to have failed.
4) Participation: Voting in elections is the most obvious way ordinary people can take part in politics. Party manifesto’s provide information on which voters can make a judgement.
5) Influence over policy: Voters have limited influence over the policies that political parties put before them.
6) Elections also allow small parties which cannot hope to form a government, to put their views across.

Question 2

Which criteria should be used in deciding which voting system is the best?

Answer 2

1) A fair result that gives, as far as possible, equal value to peoples votes across the country.
2) A choice of candidates.
3) An effective link between the elected representative and the constituency.
4) A strong government that can pass laws but can be held accountable by the electorate.

Question 3

What is the voting system in the UK for general elections?

Answer 3

1) First Past the Post is used in the UK for general elections and also local council elections in England and Wales.

Question 4

How does the First Past the Post system work? What kind of system is it?

Answer 4

1) Voters cast a single vote by placing a cross next to the name of their preferred candidate.
2) It is a pluralist system, where the person with the largest number of votes in a constituency is elected.
3) The winner does not have to gain a majority of the votes to cast.
4) The party with the largest number of votes has the right to form a government,

Question 5

How often are general elections supposed to take place? Which Act made general elections have a set date?

Answer 5

1) General elections are supposed to take place every 5 years.
2) Under the 2011 Fixed Term Parliament Act, General Elections are supposed to take place on the first Thursday in May, however a Prime Minister does have the right to call a snap election, with a 2/3 majority in the commons.

Question 6

What are 4 the advantages of FPTP?

Answer 6

1) Speed and simplicity: FPTP is easy to use, voters only have to choose one candidate. The result is usually known in the morning after polling day and a new government is rapidly formed.
2) Strong and stable government: FPTP tends to promote a two party system, which gives voters a clear choice. At general elections it usually gives a clear majority to one party, although there have been exceptions.
3) Exclusion of extremists: Although critics of FPTP point to the way it under-represents smaller parties, the advantage of this is that extreme parties - which may feed on racism, xenophobia and other extremist views - are much less likely to gain a foothold.
4) A strong link between MPs and their constituencies:The relatively small size of most FPTP constituencies, and the fact that a single MP is responsible for representing those who live in a constituency is seen as a strength.

Question 7

What are the 6 disadvantages to FPTP?

Answer 7

1) At a national level: FPTP regularly produces governments elected on a minority of the popular vote. The lowest percentage was recorded in 2005, when Tony Blair was re-elected on 32.5% of the vote. Leads to a lack of voters feeling that the system lacks legitimacy.
2) Lack of proportionality: FPTP does not translate the number of votes into seats for each party with any real accuracy. The system favours parties whose vote is concentrated.
3) The winner’s bonus: The winning party under FPTP enjoys a share of the seats in excess of the share of the vote it receives. This occurs if a large number of seats are marginal between the two main parties.
4) Limited voter choice: FPTP limits the choice for voters in several ways. Each party puts forward a single candidate, so there is no choice between individuals representing different shades of opinion within the party. The existence of ‘safe seats’ means that voters have little hope of seeing their favourite candidate win, which can depress voter turnout, since there is no point in voting for a candidate who won’t get elected.
5) Votes are of unequal value: In a small constituency a vote usually counts for more than it does in a larger one. Eg it only took 9047 votes to elect the MP for Orkney and Shetland compared to 28,591 for the Isle of Wight MP.
6) Produces ‘electoral deserts’ - areas of the country where one party cannot win seats.

Question 8

Where is the Additional Member System voting system used?

Answer 8

1) The Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, Greater London Assembly.

Question 9

How does AMS work?

Answer 9

1) Voters have 2 votes, the first is for a constituency representative, who is elected using FPTP, the second is for a party list and uses multi-member regional constituencies, introducing an element of proportional representation.
2) There are fewer list members than constituency representatives, and they are known as ‘additional’ members. In the Scottish parliament, 73/129 members are elected in single member constituencies, with the remaining seats being filled by list members. In the Welsh assembly 40/60 members represent single-member constituencies, with 20 list members. In the GLA 14 of the 25 members are elected in single member constituencies and 11 are top up members.
3) These bodies bave 4-year fixed terms.

Question 10

What are the 3 advantages of the AMS?

Answer 10

1) The top-up component introduces a proportional element, acting as a corrective to the FPTP part of the system. A calculation is made using the d’Hondt formula to determine how many members a party should be allocated from the lists.
2) The FPTP element maintains a strong link between the member and the constituency.
3) Electors have wider choice than under FPTP; they can vote for a ‘split ticket’ if they wish, using their constituency vote to choose a representative from one party, and their top-up vote to support another party.

Question 11

What are the 2 disadvantages of the AMS?

Answer 11

1) It creates 2 different types of member- some with constituency responsibilities and some without. However, there is little evidence that the second category is seen as having less legitimacy.
3) Smaller parties achieve less representation than under a fully proportional system. This is especially true in Wales where the smaller number of top-up seats has advantaged Labour

Question 12

Where is the Single Transferable Vote used?

Answer 12

1) The Northern Ireland Assembly, European parliament elections in Northern Ireland, Scottish council elections.

Question 13

How does the STV system work?

Answer 13

1) It uses multi-member constituencies; in the case of the Northern Ireland Assembly, there are 18, each returning 5 members.
2) Voters number their choices preferentially: 1,2,3 etc
3) In order to be elected, a candidate needs to achieve a quota, arrived at using the Droop formula which divides the number of votes cast by the number of seats contested plus one.

Question 14

What happens if nobody attains the quota needed in the STV system?

Answer 14

1) If nobody attains the quota, the least popular candidate is eliminated and the second preferences of those who voted for this candidate are transferred.
2) This process is continued until all the seats are filled.

Question 15

What are the advantages of the STV?

Answer 15

1) There is a close correlation between votes and seats.
2) Voter choice is high; it is possible to choose between candidates standing for the same party as well as between candidates from different parties.
3) In Northern Ireland it has created a power-sharing government that enables representatives of 2 rival communities, the unionists and nationalists, ending 30 years of violent disturbance in Northern Ireland.

Question 16

What are the disadvantages of the STV system?

Answer 16

1) It is not fully proportional, particularly where smaller multi-member constituencies are used.
2) In large-multi member constituencies, the link between the member and the voters may be weak.
3) Power sharing governments may bring rival groups but they are still prone to conflict. The Northern Ireland Executive was suspended several times in its early years as a result of a breakdown of trust

Question 17

Where is the Supplementary vote used?

Answer 17

1) Elections for the London Mayor and other elected mayors, Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales.

Question 18

How does the Supplementary vote work?

Answer 18

1) Each voter is allowed and second preference vote.
2) Any candidate who gains more than 50% of the first preference votes is elected automatically.
3) If this does not occur, all candidates except the top 2 are eliminated. Second preference votes for these 2 candidates are now added to produce 1 overall winner.

Question 19

What are the advantages of the Supplementary Vote?

Answer 19

1) It ensures broad support for the winner. Sadiq khan, elected Mayor of London in May 2016, has the largest personal mandate of any elected politician in British history.
3) Simple and straightforward to use.
4) It has allowed some independent candidates to win; for example 12/40 police and crime commissioners were independent in the 2012 contest.

Question 20

What are the disadvantages of the Supplementary vote?

Answer 20

1) SV is not proportional as one individual is being elected to a single office.
2) The winner does need to get an absolute majority of the votes cast.
3) Voters need to be able to identify the likely top two candidates in order to have influence over the outcome, and this is not always clear (with the exception of London).

Question 21

What is a referendum?
What is a referendum an example of?

Answer 21

1) A referendum is a vote on a particular issue, which most of the time requires a yes/no response.
2) A referendum is an example of direct democracy within a representative system.

Question 22

When was the first national referendum held in the UK?

Answer 22

1) June 1975 when Labour PM Wilson gave the electorate a vote on whether they wanted to stay in the European Economic Community.

Question 23

How has the conduct of Referendums been managed since 2000?

Answer 23

1) The Electoral Commission has regulated the conduct of referendums.
2) The body is responsible for checking the wording of the referendum question, as proposed by the government, to ensure that it is as objective as possible.

Question 24

Provide some facts about the EU referendum.

Answer 24

1) England as a whole voted to leave by 53%. Scotland was remain by 62%, Northern Ireland was remain by 56% and Wales was leave by 53%.
2) London was strongly remain.
3) Most of the country outside major cities voted leave.
4) Leave voters tended to be white, older and more working class, while leave voters tended to be under 55, with many being university educated.
5) Oxford and Cambridge were overwhelmingly remain.
6) Strong evidence that traditional Labour voters opted for leave as an anti-government vote. Conservative voters voted leave by nearly 60%.

Question 25

Provide some facts from the Scottish Independence referendum.

Answer 25

1) Glasgow voted yes, as did Dundee. Edinburgh voted no.
2) Poorer working class areas were more likely to vote ‘yes’. Up to a 1/3 of Labour voters also voted yes. People who voted yes tended to be in the working class central belt of Scotland.
3) Rural areas and middle class areas tended to vote no.
4) Orkney and Shetland voted no. They tend to distrust the Edinburgh Parliament and rely on fishing.

Question 26

Provide some recent referendums that have been held in the UK.

Answer 26

1) 1998 - Northern Ireland. Intended to gather support for Peace Process above the heads of troublesome political leaders in NI.
2) 1998 - London Mayor. Positive result, low turnout (45%).
3) 2004 - Regional assembly, North East of England. Decisive ‘no’ (78%).
4) 2011 AV Referendum. Defeated 67% to 33%.
5) 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Defeated.
6) 2016 EU referendum. Result was to leave.

Question 27

Put forward 8 arguments in favour of referendums.

Answer 27

1) They are a very real form of direct democracy.
2) They increase political participation; voting does not take place just every 5 years.
3) Referendums can be a check on “elective dictatorships” during a governments 5 year term.
4) Referendums provide a clear answer to a question the government might be asking.
5) Referendums deal with a flaw in the mandate theory as voters can voice an opinion on a major issue. If the government listens to the people, it is likely to be gaining public approval and support.
6) Referendums can unite a divided party.
7) Referendums can provide a mandate for controversial policies.
8) Referendums legitimise important constitutional issues such as devolution.

Question 28

Put forward 8 arguments against the use of referendums.

Answer 28

1) Referendums are inconsistent with the belief in parliamentary sovereignty.
2) Issues might be too complex for a mere yes or no answer for the public to understand.
3) The regular use of referendums could lead to ‘voter fatigue’.
4) There are effective alternatives: opinion polls and by-elections.
5) A low turnout can distort results. Only 34% of those who voted in the London Mayor referendum for eg actually voted. But 66% of Londoners did not vote.
6) The results of a referendum might not be decisive. For Welsh devolution there was a 51/49 split.
7) Funding differences can affect results as government money can pour into a referendum and the group on the other side might not be as well financed.
8) Referendums might result in the ‘tyranny of the majority’. The views of the minority are completely disregarded, and that is still a very large number of voters opinions being ignored.

Question 29

Why has First Past the Post survived for general elections? Why do voters accept it?

Answer 29

1) The outcomes it produces usually suits the interests of the two largest parties, who have largely been monopolised since 1945.
2) Voters accept FPTP because it is familiar and easy to use, and there is little desire to change it for an untried system that could potentially have its own issues. AV Referendum in 2011 showed what the public wanted.

Question 30

Why was the Additional Members System adopted for Scottish and Welsh devolved elections and for the Greater London Assembly?

Answer 30

1) AMS was chosen as a compromise that would result in a broadly representative parliament, but without involving such a radical change as STV.
2) Pacified the other parties by providing an element of proportionality.
3) After it had been agreed for Scotland, it was decided to use the same system for Wales.
4) AMS was adopted for the Greater London Assembly since it had been selected for Scotland and Wales. Would broadly reflect the views of the population of the capital.

Question 31

Why was STV adopted for the Northern Ireland Assembly?

Answer 31

1) Chosen after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement since it is a highly proportional system, likely to ensure the broadest possible representation of different parties.
2) It was important to avoid single-party domination in the background of conflict between unionist and nationalist communities.
3) The use of STV ensures that governments are power-sharing bodies drawn from both sides of the divide.
4) Had been used for short periods when a Northern Ireland government had been in existence

Question 32

Why was SV used to choose elected mayors?

Answer 32

1) Both SV and AV were considered as possibility when the Labour government was in the process of choosing which system to use.
2) SV was chosen because it is simpler to use and was preferred since only the top 2 candidates after first preferences had been counted would make it through to the final round.

Question 33

What impact would coalition governments and new voting systems have on government or types of government appointed?

Answer 33

1) Coalitions or minority governments have become much more common in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, contrary to Westminster, where single party rule is normal.

Question 34

What effects do different electoral systems have on voter choice?

Answer 34

1) AMS allows people two votes, for a constituency and a list candidate. STV offers even more, where a preferential voting systems allows voters to differentiate not only between political parties but also between candidates from the same party.
2) STV involves fewer ‘wasted’ votes than FPTP and offers greater potential to choose the winning candidate because of its proportional character.
3) SV allows voters and first and second preference vote.
4) All these systems provide more choice than FPTP where voters can only choose one candidate. Yet, if they live in a safe seat, even this has little chance of affecting the expected outcome.

Question 35

1) What did the 1979 election bring to the UK?
2) Why was it called?
3) What did Thatcher’s majority do over time?
4) What happened to Labour?

Answer 35

1) The election initiated 18 years of conservative rule under Margaret Thatcher up to 1990 and then under John Major until 1997. Seen as bring an end years of post-war consensus.
2) It was called after James Callaghan’s minority government lost a vote of no confidence in the HofCommons.
3) Thatcher’s initial majority was modest, but it grew in 1983 and 1987 and John Major clung to power in the 1992 election.
4) Labour descended into a prolonged period of left/right infighting over policy until the reinvention of the party under Tony Blair took it back to power in 1997.

Question 36

Provide some stats to do with the 1979 general election.

Answer 36

1) Turnout: 76%.
2) Size of majority : 43.
3) Conservative : 339 seats
4) Labour : 269 seats
5) Liberal : 11 seats

Question 37

How did party policies and manifesto’s explain the outcome of the 1979 election?

Answer 37

1) Both Labour and Conservative manifesto were notable for their moderation.
2) Both parties focused on bringing inflation down.
3) Thatcher’s policy contained little indication that she would move her party to the right, so therefore when Callaghan warned voters about a shift further to the right if conservatives won, this had little credibility.

Question 38

How did the election campaign affect the outcome of the 1979 election?

Answer 38

1) Conservatives adopted many techniques of modern advertising under guidance of publicity specialists.
2) Labour campaign lacked awareness of finer points of presentation whereas Thatcher proved amenable to her advisors’ invention of photo opportunities, and was pictured doing everything..

Question 39

What effect did the wider political context have on the outcome of the 1979 election?

Answer 39

1) Weakness of Labour government was the reason for Conservative success.
2) Callaghan’s government was a minority administration that survived by constructing deals with smaller parties, which left Labour vulnerable to defeat in the Commons/
3) Callaghan mistimed the election. Planned to call an election in autumn of 1978, but during the “winter of discontent” the governments attempt to impose a 5% limit on pay increases fell down due to strikes. This made it clear that Labour had bottled it.
4) Callaghan couldn’t handle militant trade unions.

Question 40

1) What did the 1997 election bring to the UK?
2) Who was the PM?
3) What happened to other parties?
4) What happened to the Tories?

Answer 40

1) Brought a landslide victory of New Labour, removing John Major’s conservative government and opened the path to 13 years of Labour rule.
2) Tony Blair was PM until 2007 when he was succeeded by his Chancellor Gordon Brown until 2010.
3) The Liberal Democrats emerged as a significant third force in Westminster.
4) Tories were troubled by ongoing divisions, poor leadership and an inability to appear relevant to contemporary society.

Question 41

Provide some stats to do with the 1997 general election.

Answer 41

1) Turnout: 71.4%
2) Size of majority: 179
3) Labour: 418 seats
4) Conservative: 165 seats
5) Lib Dems: 46 seats

Question 42

What 5 effect did party policies and manifestos have on the outcome of the 1997 election?

Answer 42

1) Tony Blair drove forward the policy of modernisation that had tentatively began under his predecessors.
2) The New Labour project abandoned old fashioned party policies such as nationalisation, tax increases and strengthening of trade union powers.
3) Blair also put forward tough signals on law and order, an issue that mattered to the electorate due to rising crime rates in the early 1990’s.
4) Labour stressed specific policy details where it promised to make a difference such as reducing the size of primary school classes and cutting hospital waiting lists.
5) Blair’s emphasis on constitutional reform put them on common ground with the Lib Dems, which made it easier for the Lib Dems to vote for Labour in marginal seats.

Question 43

What effect did the election campaign have on the outcome of the 1997 general election?

Answer 43

1) New Labour placed a huge emphasis on developing a professional vote-winning machine. Employed public-relations experts to handle the media, used focus groups to assess public opinion and targeted marginal seats rather than safe seats.

Question 44

What effect did the wider political context have on the outcome of the 1997 election?

Answer 44

1) The failures of John Major’s government, eg economic policy played an important role. By 1997 the economy was recovering from the recession of the early 90’s, yet the public didn’t give the Conservatives credit for this.
2) The public still remembered the shambles of ‘Black Wednesday’ in September 1992.
3) Monthly opinion polls from autumn 1992 showed that Labour were ahead of the Conservatives, so a Labour victory was on its way.
4) The image of conservative incompetence was confirmed by a series and financial and sexual scandals which the media called ‘sleaze’. This led to the impression of weak leadership.

Question 45

What did the 2010 election bring to the UK?
2) What did the Tories do?
3) What happened to other parties as a result of the election?
4) What did Cameron do in the following election?

Answer 45

1) The election ended the New Labour era, and removed Gordon Brown from office.
2) The Tories under David Cameron increased their share of the seats, benefiting from 4 years of efforts at modernisation.
3) The Tories did not win a majority however, and had to form the first coalition in the UK since 1945 with the Liberal Democrats, which survived due to the Fixed Term Parliament Act.
4) Cameron managed to win a slender majority in the 2015 election.

Question 46

Provide some stats to do with the 2010 election?

Answer 46

1) Turnout: 65.1%
2) Size of majority: None. Conservative-Lib Dem coalition formed afterwards had a majority of 77.
3) Conservative: 306 seats
4) Labour: 258 seats.
5) Lib Dems: 57 seats

Question 47

What effect did party policies and manifestos have on the outcome of the 2010 election?

Answer 47

1) Little difference between the three main parties on the main issue of the election which was to reduce the budget deficit which had increased by over 100 billion due to the financial crisis of 2008.
2) The Conservatives called for immediate cuts, and their rivals argued that this would jeopardise the fragile recovery of the economy from recession and that cuts should be gradually introduced.
3) From 2008 onwards Cameron focused on their attacks on Labour’s alleged mismanagement of the economy, which gained attraction with the electorate.

Question 48

What effect did the election campaign have on the outcome of the 2010 election?

Answer 48

1) Even though conservatives were focusing on minority seats in the early 2005-10 parliament, but even doing all this they were still 20 seats short of a majority.
2) Gordon Brown’s incident in Rochdale calling a women who asked him about immigration ‘bigoted’ was seized by the media but in reality did not have much impact.
3) Labour was already behind in the polls.
4) Televised debates were important. Gordon Brown was felt to have come across as wooden. Nick Clegg experienced a boost in opinion polls after an unexpected good performance in the first debate.

Question 49

What effect did the wider political context have on the outcome of the 2010 election?

Answer 49

1) Gordon Brown’s choice of election date. After taking over from Blair, he encouraged speculation that he would call an autumn election in order to secure a personal mandate. After not doing this, he lost his reputation.
2) Brown was harshly treated in the media as being insecure workaholic who couldn’t articulate a vision for the country.
3) 33% of people saw Cameron as the most capable potential prime minister compared to 29% for Brown (in a poll before the election). But when asked about particular leadership characteristics, Brown was seen to be ahead on who understood problems facing Britain or who would by the best in a crisis. Some of the electorate were not fully convinced that Cameron was ready to take over.
4) 36% of voters did not choose any party when asked about who had the best policy, showing how the Tories were unable to gain a majority.

Question 50

Provide some arguments as to why different electoral systems affect party representation.

Answer 50

1) A system of more proportionality will increase the representation of smaller parties. Eg: The Lib Dems would have gained 59 more seats in the House of Commons in the 2019 general election, if there was an element of proportionality. Futhermore under FPTP, you don’t need more than half the votes to win: In 2005 the Labour government received just over 30% of the vote.
2) AMS in Wales can show how the Labour Party is also over represented, damaging parties who fail to do well at constituency level.
3) SV is not proportional since only one candidate is applying to win, and does not even need a majority to win.
4) STV however can positively affect party representation: it can capture different opinions within parties. In NI, the rise of the APNI shows this, traditionally not very likely to gain seats.

Question 51

How do the different electoral systems not affect party representation?

Answer 51

1) FPTP can actually sometimes encourage smaller parties to have an important role in government in the event of a hung parliament eg: the Lib Dems in 2010-15 as part of the coalition. They put forward the AV referendum, as well as being involved in the Scottish referendum as 2 examples.
2) Under AMS in Scotland, the SNP have been in power since 2007, having won and majority in 2011 and keeping it ever since. They have also been the largest Scottish party in Westminster as well. In Wales under AMS, the Labour Party has always traditionally dominated.
3) This shows how different electoral systems do not make that much of a difference since the history of political parties and voter preference will always a much more important factor.