Factors Affecting Voting Behaviours

Question 1

What is a deviant/floating voter? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 1

A deviant voter is someone who votes unpredictability based on their social characteristics and the expected political choices of those characteristics.

Question 2

What is class dealignment and how has it affected voting behaviours? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 2

Class dealignment is the process whereby fewer people consider themselves to be a distinct part of a social class that they would have traditionally been a part of. This reduces the impact of social class on voting behaviour and makes trends difficult to identify based on class.

Question 3

What is partisan dealignment? Where can this be seen in the UK? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 3

Partisan dealignment is the process by which a person begins to vote away from the party that their social class has traditionally supported. This can be seen in the modern day UK, where many C2DE voters support the Conservative Party.

Question 4

What is valence? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 4

Valence is where the overall governing competency of a party is judged by the electorate, playing a major role in whether that party is elected or not.

Question 5

What have been the impacts of class dealignment on political parties in the UK? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 5

Class dealignment has resulted in many parties losing a core support base at which they can target their policies and ideas, meaning that more centrist policies have been adopted, with these policies increasingly homogenised.

Question 6

Why have the Conservatives begun to draw increasing support from the working classes in modern Britain? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 6

The Conservative party has begun to draw increasing support from the working class on account of their holding of more traditional social values and of the aspiration to become middle class. This can also be linked to DEFERENCE, where a ruling class of higher social standing is accepted and encouraged.

Question 7

How can gender be said to have influence over voting behaviour? (In the past and present) - Voting Behaviours

Answer 7

In the post-war period, Labour appealed to male-dominated trade unionism while under Heath and Thatcher, the Conservative Party tried to make an impression upon housewives and women living ‘traditional lives’. Nowadays, it is recognised that there are minimal discrepancies between male and female voting.

Question 8

How can age be said to have influence over voting behaviour? (Voting turnout and decisions) - Voting Behaviours

Answer 8

Younger voters tend to be more liberal and outgoing on account of a rebellious nature and limited living experience, yet older voters are more conservative due to the desire to protect assets and secure economic prosperity. Younger people are also more apathetic towards voting, whereas turnout increases with age.

Question 9

How can ethnicity be said to be influential over voting behaviour? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 9

Different ethnic communities largely fall into one social group or another, with many immigrants to the UK voting Labour as they mainly fall within the C2DE class, while Indian and (now) Jewish Communities are more inclined towards the Conservatives.

Question 10

How does region affect how people vote in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 10

Scotland has seen a heavy SNP/other left wing party leaning based around calls for Scottish independence from the UK.
Northern Ireland is represented by its own group of parties which represent the factional nature of society and government in the country.

Question 11

How does region affect how people vote in Wales and Northern England respectively? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 11

In Wales, Labour is dominant as a working class area, with post-industrial towns dominated by the left. Also has a nationalist presence with Plaid Cymru.
Northern England was previously a bastion for Labour for similar reasons as Wales is, yet in 2019 fell to the Conservatives due to their stance on Brexit.

Question 12

How does region affect how people vote in London and Southern England? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 12

In London, the area is perceived as a liberal and metropolitan part of the country, leaning towards Labour and the Lib Dems rather than the Conservatives.
The South is a Conservative dominated zone, with the area being the wealthiest in England and having high home ownership.

Question 13

What is instrumental voting? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 13

Instrumental voting is where someone votes based entirely on self-interest. They vote for a party which they believe will be the best at supporting them through their policies.

Question 14

What is altruistic voting? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 14

Altruistic voting is the practice by which individuals vote for the party which they believe will have the best collective impacts on society as a whole.

Question 15

How has Brexit changed voting patterns in terms of social class? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 15

The Brexit Referendum has seen working classes (who mainly voted to Leave) shift decisively towards the Brexit-supporting Conservative Party and away from Labour (who were seen to have been reluctant to take a solid stance on Brexit), with this changing the traditional working class support of Labour to the Conservatives.

Question 16

Which ethnicities/religions tend to support the Conservative Party and the Labour Party respectively? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 16

The Conservative Party now has consistent support within the Hindu and Sikh communities, as well as with some Indian groups, whereas Muslim and Black groups now predominantly support the Labour Party.

Question 17

What impact does age seemingly have on turnout? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 17

Younger age groups have consistently had a significantly decreased turnout compared to older voters, with older groups largely in support of the Conservative Party. This has meant that the Conservatives have an enlarged support base compared to Labour.

Question 18

What impact does class seemingly have on turnout? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 18

Class has largely seen increased turnouts among upper class social groups (such as ABC1) with this significantly down within lower middle and working class groups (like C2DE).

Question 19

What is a 2 party system? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 19

A 2 party system is where 2 main parties dominate party politics and the legislative process, allowing little representation for minor causes and alternative opinions. This has been reinforced in the UK since the post-war period, with a small exception when the Lib Dems had some legislative significance between 2005-15.

Question 20

With valence, what do voters make their decision based on? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 20

Voters make their decision based on whether they believe a party or leader will competently handle a certain set of issues. This is effectively governing competence.

Question 21

What issues are considered by voters when voting on the basis of valence? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 21

Voters consider the competence of the incumbent government compared to that of a prospective one, the economic competence of each party, the unity of that party, the qualities and record of the party’s leader and other senior figures within that party.

Question 22

With rational choice voting, what do voters make their decision based on? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 22

Voters using rational choice make their choices on the basis of the strengths and weaknesses of each party, weighing up stances on issues and commitments in order to reach a judgement.

Question 23

What issues are considered by voters using the rational choice model? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 23

Voters using rational choice usually consider particularly salient issues, with this including ones such as the environment, Brexit deals post-2016, the economy, etc.

Question 24

When using the issue voting model, what do voters make choices based on? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 24

Voters make choices on the basis of specific issues when using the issue voting model, with this usually on the basis of altruistic voting (for the benefit of society) or instrumental voting (for the benefit of the individual).

Question 25

When using the issue voting model, what issues do altruistic and instrumental voters consider respectively? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 25

Altruistic voters would consider the economy as a whole, the welfare state and national issues when using issue voting, while instrumental voters would consider individual taxation policies, local policies etc.

Question 26

What are salient issues? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 26

Salient issues are issues which are especially significant and important in politics and society

Question 27

How do salient issues seemingly impact voting choice? When has this previously been seen? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 27

Particularly salient issues may often sway the electorate to approve particularly of one party or another based on their stance. This can be seen in 2019 with the Conservative and Labour Parties’ opposing stances on Brexit.

Question 28

How does governing competency impact voting choices? When has this been seen before? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 28

An assessment can be made by the electorate of the qualities and abilities of each party, with this used to form an opinion on whether this will create a competent executive. This was used in 1997 when Labour was elected over the Conservatives and again in 2010, when they lost their mandate from the electorate after the 2008 Financial Crash.

Question 29

What is tactical voting? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 29

Tactical voting is where a voter votes for a party which is not their favoured choice in an attempt to block a particular party from being victorious in that particular seat.

Question 30

How does tactical voting seemingly impact voting choices? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 30

Tactical voting can result in members of the electorate voting for a secondary preference in order to block an undesired candidate from winning a seat or a party from winning an election.

Question 31

How does a party or leader’s image seemingly impact voting choices? When has this been seen before? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 31

The image of a party or leader can often prove to be incredibly decisive or potentially damaging to a party at election, as any negative media portrayal can result in serious harm to a campaign. This can be seen through media campaigns against Miliband and Corbyn in 2015/19 as well as negative portrayals of Major in 1997.

Question 32

How can leadership seemingly impact voting choices? When has this been seen before? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 32

The appearance of a leader or their charisma/attitude can influence a party’s vote share, with weak leaders unlikely to attract particularly strong public support while strong leaders can encourage and mobilise swathes of the electorate to vote for them. This can be seen with the strength of Blair and Thatcher’s campaigns in 1997/79 and Johnson in 2019.

Question 33

How can policies of parties seemingly impact voting choices? When has this been seen before? - Voting Behaviours

Answer 33

Policies on certain issues may influence voting as people weigh up the pledges of a party and use this to formulate a judgement on who they should vote in favour of. This can be seen to have worked against May in 2017 with the ‘dementia tax’ and Corbyn in 2019 with his Brexit stance.