Elections And Referendums: The Main Factors That Explain Voting Behaviour

Question 1

What are the fundamental reasons for people vote for a party?

Answer 1

The personality of the candidate or party leader
The attractiveness and relevance of manifest promises
The influence of the campaign and media
Voter profile resulting from characteristics such as social class, gender and ethnicity
An individuals own political views
The performance of the current government
Voting for the ‘least bad’ option
The suture of the electoral system

Question 2

What are the different models used when analysing voting behaviour?

Answer 2

Primary, and recent models and valence issues

Question 3

What is the ‘primary model’?

Answer 3

This emphasis long-term factors such as social, class, age and ethnicity, it focus on voter profile and implies that coign patterns are relatively stable, with change primarily occurring when voters feel a particular party no longer adequately represent them

Question 4

What is ‘recency model’?

Answer 4

Emphasises the importance of short-term factors such as issues and leadership, with voting behaviour being more volatile and unpredictable

Question 5

What is ‘valence issues’?

Answer 5

These are issues that are uniformly liked or disliked by voters so people are more interest in which party will best manage and deal with this issue

Question 6

Until recently, what was considered crucial when analysing UK voting behaviour?

Answer 6

Class

Question 7

What has been the 4 key changes in voting behaviour to occur since the 1970s?

Answer 7

Class dealignment
Partisan dealignment
More floating or swing voters
The rise of identity politics

Question 8

What is a key development in voting behaviour and parties?

Answer 8

The development and emergence of more third or minor parties

Question 9

What do political scientists think is the current best predicator of voting behaviour?

Answer 9

Age

Question 10

In the 2019 general election what was the vote share of Labour within age groups?

Answer 10

18-24: 56%
25-29: 54%
30-39: 46%
40-49: 35%
50-59: 28%
60-69: 22%
70+: 14%

Question 11

In the 2019 general election what was the vote share of Liberal Democrats within age groups?

Answer 11

18-24: 11%
25-29: 12%
30-39: 14%
40-49: 13%
50-59: 12%
60-69: 11%
70+: 11%

Question 12

In the 2019 general election what was the vote share of the Conservatives within age groups?

Answer 12

18-24: 21%
25-29: 23%
30-39: 30%
40-49: 41%
50-59: 49%
60-69: 57%
70+: 67%

Question 13

Why was the 2019 general election especially based on age?

Answer 13

Younger people tend to be more likely to vote remain on Brexit, with the Labour, at the time, being pro-europa while the Conservatives the opposite gaining much older voters who tend to be harsher on immigration