KU Mods Exam December 2024 Flashcards
What are two rights individuals have in a democracy?
P The right to vote,
E means you can make a mark on your ballot to pick a representative
E e.g 2024 general election
P Right to protest
E this means you can demonstrate against the government in the street
E e.g BLM
Explain why some people choose to vote in elections.
P - To hold the representatives to account
E - Able to reward or punish their representatives with more terms
E - People voted out Allan Dorrans for Ellaine Stewart in Ayr
P - Inform the government of what they want after the election
E - Government is instructed by their election promises, the most pop-u-lar ones should be kept
E - Labour promised to increase fees on private schools in 2024 -because they won the election they should keep it
Explain why some people choose not to vote in an election.
P - Lack of choice
E - Only two main parties, some people don’t align with either
E - Seats are dominated by labour and Conservative in the UK, smaller parties don’t get much of a chance
P - Live in an area with a safe seat
E - A majority for one party discourages people from voting against them
E - Labour majority of 21000 in Bootle, not much chance for tory voters there
How can people participate in politics?
P - Standing as a candidate
E - Anyone can sign up and win votes in their constituency
E - Allan Dorrans stood as an MP in Ayr and lost
P - Joining a pressure group
E - Explain what a pressure group is (e.g protesting to raise awareness)
E - BLM protested in 2020 to raise awareness of racism
How do political parties campaign?
P - TV Debates
E - Present their proposals and attack rivals
E - Nick Clegg used TV debates to boost his campaign in 2010 (ask for clarification)
P - Utilise transport
E - Paint a bus in party colours and use it to report on their campaign - battle bus
E - Labour used their slogan (change) on their bus and reported on the election
How can people participate in election campaigns?
P - Tallking to voters/knocking on doors (canvassing)
E - Party members volunteer to talk to people about policies and convince them to vote
E - In Ayr people knocked on door to convince people to vote for Alan Dorrans
P - Attending local debates
E - Listen to the candidates pitch and ask questions of their own to be informed
E - Hustings (meeting) held at Queen Margaret in Ayr before the elections with local candidates present
Why do politicians use the media in elections?
P - Use campaigns on TikTok
E - Engage with younger viewers, unlocking new voters
E - Labour put out 20 TikToks in 2024 convincing people to vote for them
P - Use campaigns on physical newspapers
E - Target older people so that they will be more likely to vote the party seen in the news
E - Conservative MP Suella Braverman wrote a newspaper article for the 2024 election
What are two advantages of FPTP?
P - Discourages extremist parties
E - Votes for extremist parties like Reform are spread out across the country - don’t count as much
E - Reform UK got 14% of the vote but 0.8% of seats
P - Creates a strong majority government
E - FPTP creates a two-party government - one is majority so they can get things done
E - Conservatives had a strong majority in 2019, allowing Brexit
What are two disadvantages of FPTP?
P - Those elected don’t need a majority
E - The person that wins only needs 1 more vote than their competitor, meaning even if most people didn’t vote for them they can still win
E - Labour candidate in Hendon only won by 15 votes in 2024
P - Number of votes does not equal number of seats
E - Small parties are disadvantaged because they need concentrated support and are under-represnted by how many votes they had
E - Reform got 4 million votes and only 5 seats in 2024, compared to Lib Dems with 3.5 million and 72 seats
What are 2 reserved matters in the UK parliament?
P - Defence
E - They have control on spending on military factions and control how they are used
E - In 2023/24 the UK parliament spent over £54 billion on defence - foreign bases and nuclear weapons
P - Immigration
E - Has control over laws for who is allowed to come in
E - Kier Starmer promised more policing on small boats crossing the English Channel in 2024. He said “smash the smuggling gangs”
Give 2 reasons why the Prime Minister is powerful.
P - Spokesperson for the government both in the UK and abroad
E - Most visible member of the government and discusses world issues whilst representing the UK
E - On August 2024, Starmer visited Germany to discuss a cooperation agreement
P - Power of Patronage (roles)
E - The Prime Minister appoints roles such as cabinet members and can make or break careers
E - Kier Starmer made Rachel Reeves the UK’s first female chancellor in August 2024
