participation in elections and campaigings

Question 1

Two ways political parties campaign

Answer 1

P- Canvassing.
E-Canvassing gives parties the opportunity to go door to door to speak with the public in an attempt to increase voter awareness of the party.
E-Neale Hanvey and his supporters visited households in the run up to the 2019 General Election resulting in him winning the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath seat from the Labour party.

P-Taking part in TV debates. E-This allows the parties to make the electorate aware of their policies and to portray the party leader and other politicians in a good light.
E- Nicola Sturgeon performed extremely well in the 2015 TV leaders’ debate and the SNP performed well in the election winning 56 of a possible 59 seats.

Question 2

Ways citazens can participate in politics

Answer 2

P- Canvassing.
E-This involves party supporters going door to door to speak with the public in an attempt to increase voter awareness of the party. E-Neale Hanvey supporters visited households in the run up to the 2019 General Election resulting in him winning the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath

P-Voting.
E-UK citizens have the opportunity to choose who they want to represent them in the UK parliament, Scottish parliament and local council.
E-People in Kirkcaldy voted for David Torrance of the SNP to represent them in the Scottish parliament and Neale Hanvey to represent them in the UK parliament.

Question 3

Explain, in detail, the reasons why some political parties’ election campaigns are successful during General Elections.

Answer 3

P-Their large following on social media.
E-This allows them to reach a large number of voters and tell them about their policies. Most political parties now have Facebook and Twitter pages.
E-The Conservatives have 525,000 followers on Twitter.

P-They have a lot of funding. E-To run a successful election campaign costs a lot of money as you need to pay for leaflets, posters and Party Election Broadcasts to get your message out to the electorate.
E-Larger parties, such as the Conservatives, have wealthy supporters who donate vast sums of money and smaller parties, such as the Greens, are therefore unable to compete with this