Party Systems (PP 2.4) Flashcards
What is a party system?
The way in which parties in a political system are grouped/structured
> How many compete for power
> How many have an impact on the exercise of power
What are the four party systems which can be argued have been in place in the UK?
Two-party system
Two-and-a-half-party system
Dominant party system
Multi-party system
What is a majority government?
- A government which forms with more than half of the seats (half of 650) won.
> Important as it needs a majority to pass votes on key things like the budget and votes of confidence.
What is a coalition government?
- A government of more than one party
> Both parties will have ministers
> Larger party will have the PM, smaller with Deputy PM
> Only recent coalition was the 2010-2015 Conservative-LibDem coalition (Cameron/Clegg)
What is a minority government?
- A government without a majority of seats
> Usually forms a “confidence and supply” agreement with a much smaller party
(i.e. the 2017-19 Conservative-DUP confidence and supply arrangement)
What is the argument for a dominant party system?
- Multiple times were a singular party has been in power for more than a decade
> Thatcher/Major (79’-97’)
> Blair (97’-10’)
> Conservatives (10’-24’) - Could also be argued that we have seen Conservative dominance with a few Labour governments (for the past 80 years, Conservatives have been in power for 50)
What is the argument against a dominant party system?
- Alternate-dominating party system is a much more accurate view, yet this is only shown in governments formed, and not in other metrics (seats won and vote share)
- Conservative dominance shows cracks (under Major, and from 2010 (Coalition, confidence and supply agreement, Brexit)
> Moreover, dominance has never been in terms of votes (between 1979-1997, they only ever won 41-44% of the votes)
Does the UK have a dominant party system?
- No
> While the Conservatives dominated 79’-97’, there has been no return since; even during this period, it was limited with a relatively low vote share.
What is the argument for a two-and-a-half-party system?
- Can be argued that the reason the Conservatives dominated from 79’-97’ was due to the vote split between Labour and the LibDems (and their predecessors)
> “Half” party of LibDems keeping the Conservatives in power
What is the argument against a two-and-a-half-party system?
- More of a multi-party system
> LibDems have collapsed at times (i.e. 2015)
> LibDems take votes from both Labour and the Conservatives, and other parties also have an impact
Does the UK have a two-and-a-half-party system?
No
> The reason why the Conservatives were dominant in the 1980s was due to the weakness of Labour.
What are the four metrics used to determine what type of party system the UK has?
Government formed
Seats won
Vote share
Elections beyond Westminster
What type of party system does governments formed show, and why?
A two-party system
> Only Labour and Conservatives have formed governments; the last time another party formed a government was the Liberals in 1918
What other parties have been in power since 1945, other than Labour and the Conservatives?
Conservative-LibDem coalition in 2010-15, which the electorate rejected (shown through the collapsed LibDem vote in 2015, only winning eight seats)
How many times have Labour and the Conservatives swapped power since 1945?
Eight times.
What are the arguments for a two-party system, in terms of government formed?
- Most general elections have produced a clear majority for one of the two main parties
> Only two exceptions to this (2010 coalition (Labour collapsed due to financial crisis) and 2017-19 (Brexit; still over 80% of people voted for either Labour or the Conservatives)
What is the (less convincing) argument against a two-party system, in terms of government formed?
- Ability to form a single party government is diminishing
> 2010 coalition
> 2017 confidence and supply agreement
> Labour has usually struggled (other than Blair / 2024)
What is the overall argument for a two-party system, in terms of governments formed?
It is clear to see that, in terms of governments formed, it is firmly a two-party system.
> Minority governments / coalitions have only come through exentuating circumstances (financial crisis 08’; Brexit)
What are the arguments for a two-party system, in terms of seats won (forming stable government)?
- In all elections since 1945, the vast majority has been won by the two main parties
> In 2024, which was the highest percentage of seats won by smaller parties (18%), only 118/650 were won, which is about a sixth of seats available.
What are the arguments against a two-party system, in terms of seats won?
- There has been a clear and long decline in seats won by the two main parties
> 1945 = 90%+; 1964 = 99%
> 1997 = fell below 90%, has never returned
> 2024 = 82%
What is the overall argument for a two-party system, in terms of seats won?
It is clear that most of the seats are held by one of the two main parties, but the degree to which this is true is decreasing.
> Shows a two-party system in decline.
What are the (less convincing) arguments for a two-party system, in terms of vote share?
Although vote share has been declining since the 1970s, the voters have largely given the winning party enough votes to form a government.
> Even in 2024, both Labour and Conservative voters left their parties (tactical voting for Labour, punishment/Reform for the Conservatives), explaining the lower vote share at 57%
What are the (more convincing) arguments against a two-party system, in terms of vote share?
Even though FPTP encourages a two-party system, the rate of people voting for the two main parties has steadily declined.
> 1950s = over 90%
> 1970s/80s = around 70%
> 2000s = around 60%
> 2024 = 57% (lowest ever, tied with 2001)
Exceptions (2017/19) can be explained with exentuating circumstances (Brexit)
What is the overall argument for a two-party system, in terms of vote share?
- Voters are increasingly not voting for one of the two main parties, even with FPTP encouraging it
> Only 57% voted for Labour/Conservatives in 2024, with only 34% voting for the winning party (Labour)