Functions Of A Political Party Flashcards
Representation function ?
Party must represent the people with a certain set of beliefs
(Representation) Those who are broadly right-wing have what views ?
Conservatives
(Representation function) what outlook has gravitate to left-wing ?
Labour which represents the working class
What are the functions of a political parties ?
- representation
- policy making
- providing government
What is the function of Policy making ?
generate policies that embody the ideas that they stand for
When policy making what do they do at general elections
Put their proposal before the electorate manifesto
What was the Example of conservative in policy making ?
In 2019 general election Conservative Party gained a majority of 80+ MPs due to their main manifesto
How many MPs majority did conservatives gain due to policy making
80+ MPs
What was conservatives main manifesto in 2019 election ?
‘Get Brexit done’
What other functions do the political parties serve ?
Educative function by communicating and explaining ideas to public
How are parties funded ?
MPs are paid from general taxation
How much are MPs paid per year ?
£84,144 per year
When are MPs allowed to claim expenses ?
Running an office , living westimister and constituency and travelling between the two
How do parties meet most of their election cost ?
Voluntary subscriptions and funding events in MPs constituencies
How are opposition party funded ?
Supported by short money
What is short money ?
A state provision to make up for their lack of civil service
What does short money do for the opposition ?
Gives them something to fight against government and better scrutiny and to compete
What are the controversy on funding
Alerts if funding may be corrupt imotallt
And not legal
Example of corruption of funding ?
Some donors may expect to receive an honor from party leaders e.g peerage or knighthood as a return of generosity
What is this known as
Cash for honours , investigated by police
What does the decline of party membership mean ?
More reliant upon donors so more corruption
What was in place to reduce corruption of funding ?
2000 political elections and referendums act
What did the 2000 political parties, elections and referendums act do ?
Independent electoral commission set up to supervise party spending on electoral campaigns
What was the amount party could spend capped to in constituency?
£30,000
What was banned , in the 2000 political parties elections and referendum act ?
Donations from individuals not on Uk government electoral roll
What had to happen to donations according to the act ?
Donations more than 5,000 or 1,000 pounds had to declared
What was the amount of the donations nationally ?
£5,000
What was the amount of money to a constituency party ?
£1,000
What do parties have to do ?
Publish details of donations at regular intervals
Did the act work ?
No ‘Cash for peerage’ scandal in 2006
What happened in the ‘cash for peerages’ scandal 2006?
Several wealthy individuals loaned money to the Labour party had been nominated to the party
What was Labour Party doing?
Seemed party was exploiting loophole
What suggesting of reform was made by labour and lib dems
Suggesting by labour and Lib dems in 2015 elections imposed limits on individual donations to parties
What was the conservatives reaction to this suggestion
Met with displeasure from conservative who deeply rely on individual donations
