Elections and Voting Behaviour (race to 100)

Question 1

Outline how FPTP works

Answer 1

Voters select the candidate which they wish to represent them on a single ballot paper and only being able to choose one candidate.

The candidate with the highest % of votes wins the seat

Question 2

List the criteria for a successful electoral system

Answer 2

• minimises wasted votes
• allows a swift transfer of power
• produces stable governments
• constituency representative link

Question 3

Define majoritarian, plurality and proportional representation systems with an example for each

Answer 3

• Majoritarian = in order to win a seat 50% of the vote is required at least, e.g. the supplementary vote system
• Plurality = in order to win a seat a candidate has to receive more votes than their competitors, e.g. FPTP
• Proportional representation = the % of total votes that a party receives is roughly the % of seats the party will have in Parliament, e.g. single transferrable system

Question 4

Give 2 reasons why the UK should maintain FPTP for general elections

Answer 4

• It produces strong and stable governments, unlike proportional representation methods FPTP often creates large majorities allowing the government to enact its policies
• There is a strong constituency representative link as there is one representative clearly accountable to their constituents and they are of manageable size (average of 72,000)

Question 5

Give 3 different factors that determine electoral outcomes with examples to show their significance

Answer 5

• Leadership = Gordon Brown refused to call an autumn election in June 2007 which damaged his reputation and gave him the nickname of ‘Bottler Brown’, Labour then lost in 2010 election
• Media = in 1992 the Sun ridiculed Neil Kinnock (Labour leader) as unfit to be PM, therefore when John Major (Conservative leader) won the election the Sun claimed ‘It was the Sun Wot Won it’
• Campaigning = Theresa May’s campaign in 2017 was described as the ‘worst in living memory’ as opposed to Corbyn’s campaign which appealed to the youth

Question 6

Provide evidence and justify why media is the most significant factor in determining election results

Answer 6

Media is the way in which the vast majority of the population (electorate) engage in politics. People lack the time to fully delve into politics so they rely on media to provide them with information. Therefore media can alter some people’s views on politics and maybe shift an election one way. For example, media hostility towards Jeremy Corbyn doubled by 2019 which contributed to a dominant conservative performance as Conservative media hostility declined

Question 7

Give 3 sociological factors that affect voting behaviour with an example to show its significance

Answer 7

• Age, people aged below 47 are more likely to vote Labour than Conservative and vice versa
• Regional, London is more often than not a Labour majority area (55% in 2017) whereas Southern England is Conservative (54% in 2017)
• Social class, working class (C2 and DE) more often than not vote for labour, e.g. 59% in 1997, whereas middle class (AB and C1) vote conservative, e.g. 59% in 1997

Question 8

Make the argument that the UK is experiencing partisan dealignment

Answer 8

Partisan dealignment = when a traditionally accepted voting preference is no longer true, such as if areas in the North of England began to vote Conservative

This can be seen in 2019 when many ‘red wall’ seats (safe Labour seats) turned Conservative such as Sedgefield which was previously represented by Tony Blair

Question 9

Give an example of an issue that was significant for voters in the 1983 general election

Answer 9

An issue significant to voters was the poor manifesto of Labour which was labelled “the longest suicide note in history”. It contained unilateral nuclear disarmament and abolition of the House of Lords which was too left leaning for many voters

Question 10

What can we learn from the 2019 election about voter behaviour/ significance of factors affecting electoral outcomes

Answer 10

The 2019 election highlights the significance of campaigning as Boris Johnson promised a quick and decisive Brexit after the failures of his predecessor, May. It also shows media’s significance as they began to heavily criticise Corbyn and he was portrayed as anti-Semitic. It also shows the insignificance of regional voting as many “red wall” seats shifted to Conservative