democracy and participation Flashcards
What are gladiators?
Relatively small percentage of activists who are keen participants
What are spectators?
The largest majority, those who observe the contest but who limit their participation to voting
What are apathetics?
The non-participants who do not even watch the contest and are indifferent to its outcome
What is a 40:30:30 society?
40% - of population have secure employment and are comfortably well Off.
30% - in insecure employment (Self-employed and part-time workers)
30%- economically and socially marginalised, jobless or working for poverty wages and barely able to subsist.
what did the reform act of 1832 entail of?
- passed by the wigs (lab)
- 6% could now vote, 1 in 5 men
- pocket and rotten boroughs could now vote, significant change
what unrest came along with the reform act of 1832?
- riots 1831 as people believed reformation of suffrage wouldn’t happen
name the 6 historical reformations of suffrage
- reform act of 1832
- second reformation act of 1867
- third reformation act of 1885
- representation of the people act 1918
- representation of the people act 1928
- representation of the people act 1969
second reformation act of 1867
allowed around 1 in 3 men to vote, electorate now 2 million
third reformation act of 1885
2 in 3 men allowed
most working men
representation of the people act 1918
- married, graduate or property-owning women aged over 30 given the vote
representation of the people act 1928
- all adults over 21 could vote, including women
representation of the people act 1969
- all people over 18 could vote
direct democracy
- system or situation in which people rather than elected representatives make
what is an example of direct democracy?
referendums
representative democracy
- a principle that people are represented in government by elected officials rather than taking part in the decision making process
edmund burke quote for representative democracy
‘your representative owes you not his industry only but his judgement and he betrays you if he sacrifices it to your opinion’
1774
nature of democracy quote abraham lincoln
‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’
three features of the nature of democracy
- tolerance of different opinions and of the media
- protection of the right of citizens
- government accountable to the people
democracy meaning
- a government that is accountable to the people, that rules according to clearly understood limits on their power, under a constitution and with an independent judiciary
difference between power and authority
power = the ability to make people do things (that they might not want to do)
authority = the given right to influence someone’s power
great reform act 1932
franchise extended to shopkeepers and small farmers
five ways to improve democracy and participation
- compulsory voting
- lower voting age
- primary elections
- recall elections
- referendums and initiatives
ballot act 1872
introduced the secret ballot
representation of the people act 1948
principle of ‘one person one vote’ established
scottish elections act 2016
16-17 year olds allowed to vote in scottish elections
representation of the people act 1985
extended franchise to british citizens residing abroad
arguments in favour of direct democracy
- the pure form of democracy, everyone has a say
- increased legitimacy as they have the majority of support of the people
- improves participation
- increases public engagement, regular debates
- improves political education
- successful in countries like switzerland
arguments against direct democracy
- not practical, size of population means unresponsive and impractical
- tyranny of the majority, minority groups and interests may have their needs overlooked for a majority
- undermines the elected representatives, they are less accountable and responsible for policy decisions
- low turnouts, small groups are making decisions for everyone, in turn reduces legitimacy
- emotional responses rather than practical decisions
- populist outcomes, tend to vote on short-term outcomes rather than in favour for the national interest
tory membership 1950s to 2013
1950s = 2.8 million
2013 = 150k
trade union membership 1970 to 2014
1970 = 30m
2014 = 7m
sephology
why people make choices
five party identification models
- social structure model
- identification model
- rational choice model
- dominant ideology model
- voting context model
which voting behaviour models are primary and recency?
primacy = social structures and identification models
recency = rational choice model, dominant ideology model and voting context model
what is the social structure model?
voting based on your class
identification model
- voting for the party you have always voted for or supported
opinion polls
surveys asking people how they intend to vote next election
carried out by professional polling companies
rational choice model
voting based on an educated guess on who is most suited
dominant ideology model
voting based on influence by the media
voting context model
- voting on your personal situation in life
- considers the ‘purpose’ of the election
- does not always reflect on personal preference (tactical voting)
- voters way up the consequences of their vote
by elections
voting to replace a resigned/deceased MP
- normally has a low turnout, has little effect on the government
partisan dealignment
breakdown of long term allegiance of voters to a particular party since the 1970s
partisan alignment
long term allegiance of voters to a political party
volatility
significant change in voting habits, resulting in voting becoming less consistent and more unpredictable. Involves a shift of voter support between parties or between voting and abstention
middle england
C2, middle class
five factors of why there has been party dealignment since the 1970s
- class dealignment
- generational effect
- education
- media
- ideological disjuncture
factor of class dealignment in party dealignment since the 1970s
- rise of labour attracting the ‘natural class’ for the 1997 election. able to appeal to middle england
- 2019, tory able to attract the ‘red wall’ voters
factor of generational effect in party dealignment since the 1970s
- new voters register in between elections whilst older voters die
- new voters are seen not to be necessarily aligned to parties
factor of the media in party dealignment since the 1970s
- rise of TVs from the 1960s
- meaning interviews are far less deferential with the rise of satirical programmes like Spitting Image
factor of education in party dealignment since the 1970s
- better educated electorate are able to make rational political decisions
- therefore less reliant on unthinking psychological attachment to a particular party
factor of ideological disjuncture in party dealignment since the 1970s
-
six examples of salient issues
- economy
- crime
- healthcare
- taxation
- education
primary elections
- held by a political party to choose a candidate for an upcoming election
open = all constituencies
closed = party members only - low turnout could leave decision to a small number of unrepresentative voters
spatial model
- stresses the importance of positional voters and issues
- party whose policies are closest to the positions of the majority of voters
example of the spatial model in practice
brexit 2019
valence model
- a broad agreement on the goals the government should pursue
- e.g. reducing crime, retaining the NHS, improve the economy
- whichever party that appears most competent will win
negative policies associated with Labour
increasing taxes (60s and 70s, not new labour)
negative policies associated with tories
- favoured middle class over working class
- ‘nasty party’
retrospective model
- voter’s perceptions of the parties past records
- decisions are based on evidence and performance
examples of the retrospective model in practice
- labour loosing 2010 because of their handling of the economy
- labour’s ‘winter of discontent’ 1979 loss, also fell out with trade unions
- tory ‘partygate’ and crashing economy 2024 loss
prospective model
- people vote for the party which they judge most likely to raise the standard of living
prospective model examples in practice
- tory position on brexit 2019 (get brexit done)
- new labour re-branding 1997
- thatcher 1979
- attlee 1945
how has voting behaviour developed in recent times?
what are the attributes of it in the modern era and why?
- more volatile
- becuase of the breakdown of traditional party loyalties
- issues may play a larger role
- especially as the amount of information available is a lot more than historically.
name five traditional forms of political participation
- voting in a range of elections: national, local, regional and referendums
- membership of a political party, attending conferences and actively campaigning
- standing as a candidate in elections
- joining pressure groups
- writing letters to MPs/councillors
name four more modern forms of political participation
- signing e-petitions
- following/retweeting/resharing political posts on social media
- organising and participating on protests like BLM on social media
- boycotting certain goods and businesses out of political and moral principle
slacktivism
- a modern and more shallow way of participating in politics
- criticism of the new age of social media and participation via that
what was the average turnout between 1945 and 1992?
above 75%
what was the turnout in 1950?
84%
turnout in 2019
67.3%
five examples of election turnouts
- 2019 european elections: 37%
- 2018 local elections for unitary councils: 33%
- 2015 police and crime commissioner elections: 15%
- 2016 scottish parliament elections: 56%
- 2011 AV referendum: 42%
impact of age on voting behaviour
- the older, the more likely to vote they are
turnout figures for age ranges
2019 ipsos polling research found:
- 47% among 18-24 year olds
- 74% among over 65s
- however only covers a selection of voters
highest turnout constituency
east dunbartonshire:
- 80% in 2019
- seat that Jo Swinson lost
lowest turnout constituency
Kingston upon Hull East:
- 49% in 2019
in 2019, where did low turnouts occur?
- urban northern england areas: West Midlands, Thames estuary and South Wales valleys
safe seat figures for 2019
- 453 out of 650 constituencies had been won by the same party at the last four general elections, ‘safe seats’
voter turnout
- the percentage of eligible voters who participated in an election
six factors in the likelihood of voting
- location/region
- age
- gender
- socialisation
- ethnicity
- social class
impact of location/region on the likelihood of voting
- deprived/northern areas less likely/interested due to education and lack of participation
impact of age in likelihood of voting
- under 35 less likely
impact of gender on likelihood of voting
- men more likely
- rise in female voters recently
impact of socialisation on likelihood of voting
- higher educated are more likely
- as they are more outgoing/confident
- politically active families/hereditary attributes towards politics
impact of ethnicity on likelihood of voting
- minorities are less likely: low Jewish population, high Asian population of voters
impact of social class on likelihood of voting
- lower classes are less likely as less educated
- higher classes more likely as more educated/politically motivated
2019 voter turnout by class figures
AB = 68%
C1 = 64%
C2 = 61%
DE = 53%
tactical voting
- rather than voting for preferred party, voters will vote for another party in the hope that this will help to prevent their least favourite party from winning
example of tactical voting
- 2019 no BREXIT candidates in tory held seats
protest voting
- a negative vote against a policy or against the current direction of the government
- occurs especially in local, european and by-elections
reasons for by-elections
- death
- resignation
exit polls
voters are asked how they just voted on election day
bandwagon effect
- voters will ‘jump on the bandwagon’ and vote for the leading party
boomerang effect
- voters sympathise with the underdog, while the leading party becomes complacent
example of boomerang effect
- 2015 general election:
election polls suggested election was close, with a hung parliament likely
right-wing papers warned voting labour would inevitably lead to a labour-SNP government
voters encouraged to vote tactically to avoid such coalition
what effect to opinion polls have?
- pms can find polls helpful in determining when to call an election
- academics claim it may effect voting behaviour
which year was known for bad polling figures?
- 1992 election known for inaccuracy of polls
- labour had a slight lead in polls but lost by 7.6%
turnout of the 1997 election
- 71.4%
seat distribution in the 1997 election
- blair/labour 419 seats
- major/tory 165 seats
- ashdown/lib dem 46 seats
how did opinion polls predict the 1997 election?
- predicted a landslide labour win
- lab predicted between 43% and 53%, tories down at 28% and 33%
large swings
shows the extent of change in voter support, from one election to the next, typically expressed as a positive or negative percentage point change
- normally less than 5 percentage points (expect 1997, 1979 and 2017)
low turnouts
referring to a situation where a smaller-than-expected percentage of the electorate engages politically
largest election swings
- 1945 tory to labour
tory = -12% points - 1997 tory to labour
tory = -10.2% points
