Do parties matter? Party government and political economy

Question 1

What impact has globalisation had on party power?

Answer 1

Interdependence between countries, such as free and rapid movement of capital, means that individual democracies have less power and policies are implemented at a higher level. The common European currency means that countries cannot set interest rates and print money i.e. When Greece went into debt in 2010, the Eurozone and global economy were effected as a result.

Question 2

Vachudora on public policy

Answer 2

There is less freedom in setting public policy in Europe due EU law that requires states to align their national legal and administrative systems.

Question 3

In what ways does globalisation not impact party power?

Answer 3

There is very little mobility in affairs regarding education, roads, labour and social values (LGBT+ rights, abortion) etc. These matters are contained within a country, so political parties do matter.

Question 4

Schmidt on parties

Answer 4

People vote with national issues, rather than global ones in mind because they expect national politics to make a difference.

Question 5

Bernard and Leblang on parties

Answer 5

They investigated the effect of political change on financial markets. Markets are effected by elections, so investors react strongly to them because it is in their financial interest.

Question 6

The effect of power-thirsty politicians on politics

Answer 6

Some politicians are only concerned with gaining and retaining office. They stimulate the economy before elections to gain popularity. This means that the effect of which party is in office is less significant.

Question 7

Party ideologies

Answer 7

Party ideologies are often concerned with how wealth should be distributed. Ideologies impact public policies and therefore show that ideologies parties hold do matter because they affect the way the party governs.

Question 8

The withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq

Answer 8

In March 2004, there was a terror attack at the main Madrid train station just days before an election. Fears that this was an act of Islamic extremists led to a change of government and consequently, the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq, whereas they had previously been close allies of the US. This is a clear cut case of representative government in action.

Question 9

Laver and Budge on political parties

Answer 9

The importance of political parties can be determined by comparing their manifestos with the policy positions they actually enforce when in power. The effect of policy changes is easier to see when the party in office regularly changes i.e. Denmark. There does appear to be shifts in the ideological complexion of public policy depending on which party is in power.

Question 10

Richard Rose on campaign pledges

Answer 10

Compared the 1970-74 Tory government with the 1974-79 Labour government. Over half of pledges were deemed non-partisan - they were easy to carry out due to there being consensus between parties. Did not follow a precise definition of pledge - promised real actions or hopes and aspirations?

Question 11

Terry Royed on campaign pledges

Answer 11

Used a more precise definition of campaign pledge than Rose. Her research discovered that over 80% of Tory pledges were enacted in the periods of 1979-1983 and 1983-1987. Therefore, pledges do matter.

Question 12

Thomson on coalitions

Answer 12

Fewer pledges are expected to be fulfilled during coalitions. (less than 50%).

Question 13

Counter-argument to Terry Royed

Answer 13

Politicians pledge easy and uncontroversial thing that are easy to implement, therefore pledges do not matter.

Question 14

Public spending

Answer 14

Public spending is a hard indicator of whether or not parties matter. In particular, social expenditure - funding concerned with welfare, pensions, education etc.

Question 15

Schmidt on public spending

Answer 15

Right wing parties tend to spend less however there are rarely major changes in public spending.

Question 16

Andre Blais on public spending

Answer 16

Majority governments are required to make a difference. Left-governments spend more but not much more. Time is needed to have significant impact - parties must be long-term serving - cuts and investments must be repeated year after year.

Question 17

Public opinion

Answer 17

Policies are often formed around what the public want. If a different party were to be in power in this time period, would they have acted in the same way?

Question 18

Mark Reckless on political parties

Answer 18

Conservative turned UKIP MP argues that the major, catch all parties are all the same. They are clustered, authoritarian centre right and are all going for the same vote.

Question 19

Counter argument to Mark Reckless

Answer 19

It may be the case for white, middle class men that all parties are the same, but what about other sections in society?

Question 20

Thomas Carothers on political parties

Answer 20

Carothers’ “standard lament” about political parties contained 5 reasons as to why we should object to them.

Question 21

Carothers on political parties being corrupt

Answer 21

Carothers argued that parties are ways in which elites pursue their own interests and don’t care about individuals.

Question 22

Carothers on ideologies

Answer 22

Carothers argued that political parties don’t stand for anything. They have vague and symbolic ideologies and there is no difference between them.

Question 23

Carothers on party consensus

Answer 23

Carothers argued that parties waste time disagreeing for the sake of political advantages rather than trying to solve problems.

Question 24

Carothers on party activity

Answer 24

Carothers argued that political parties only become active during election time to gain votes, you never hear from them at any other points.

Question 25

Carothers on party governance

Answer 25

Carothers argued that parties are ill-prepared for governing and do a bad job of it when they do take power.