Evaluate The View That Political Parties Should Be Funded By The State

Question 1

Theme one corruption

Answer 1

Arg 1= crucially ,it would curb the possibility of corruption and those who have the money to influence policy/ get positions of power
Ev=the 2000 political parties, elections and referendum act

CA= as they no longer need to seek financial support , it could isolate parties from the wishes of the public, harming democracy.
Ev=bernie ecclestone

Question 2

Theme 2= equality- improving disparity between majority and minority gov

Answer 2

Arg 1 = public funding would remove the disparity in resources available to different sized parties
Ev= cons are exceeding £20mil funding annually in election yrs whereas the Green Party receive less than £1mil annually
Ex= as a consequence, the undemocratic two party system would be challenged and pluralist democracy would improve

CA= if funding was linked to past performance in elections, then it would likely uphold the power of existing parties and not further pluralist democracy
Ev= most tax payers won’t want to support and fund parties they won’t support, especially as they don’t trust those in power
Ex=minority govt manifesto have not yet been fully tested yet, could be unreliable

Question 3

Theme 3= upholding effective democracy

Answer 3

Arg1= parties are key to representing the public and upholding effective democracy and therefore deserve effective funding
Ev=2016 trade union act= prevents parties trying to limit the funding of other political parties in power
Ex= parties and politicians could focus more on representing the public and effectively governing rather than focusing on raising money especially before elections

CA= limited public funding currently available ensures that parties are independent from the state
Ev= membership fees