Political parties 1 Flashcards
1. Political spectrum 2. Party funding 3. Party success 4. Roles of parties 5. Party systems
What is a political party?
An organisation of like-minded people who wish to govern under a set of shared ideologies
What are the differences between a political party and a pressure group? (3)
- PPs have inclusive memberships whilst PGs may have exclusive memberships (eg. BMA - British Medical Association)
- PPs wish to influence policy by holding office whilst PGs do not wish to hold office (however PGs may sometimes field candidates in elections to raise awareness - eg. CLEAR in 2010 GE for legalisation of cannabis)
- PPs have broad range of politics whilst PGs tend to have a narrower focus/single-issue (exception of UKIP)
What is a manifesto?
A document detailing policy proposals of parties, released before each GE to educate the public on each party’s political programme and aims
What is a mandate?
The right for a government to enact its manifesto policies
Why is the idea of a mandate fair? (4)
- It is only right that a single-party government can implement their manifesto policies
- Manifesto is widely available in print and online
- Easy-to-digest summaries in media + televised leaders’ debate educates public on each parties’ main aims and policies
- Virtually universal franchise
Why is the idea of a mandate not fair? (6)
- Coalition government enact a compromised and negotiated policy programme that was not endorsed by voters
- Public may not read manifestoes
- Public may vote based on other factors other than manifesto policies
- Governing party likely did not receive an absolute majority (less people endorsed the manifesto than people who did not)
- Voters may not agree with every policy in a party’s manifesto
- Low turnout rates threaten legitimacy of governing party’s mandate
What are the roles of political parties? (5)
- Representation
- Recruitment of leaders
- Policy formulation
- Forming government
- Engagement (education) and participation
How do political parties carry out the function of representation? (3)
- traditionally, parties would represent certain classes within society (whigs -> aristocracy, liberals -> middle class)
- now, parties tend to have centrist tendencies -> less appeals to majority, less distinction between parties
- idea that parties serves specific groups of society less prominent (each party strives to represent society as a whole now)
How do political parties carry out the function of recruitment of leaders? (2)
- gives candidates experience to progress from junior roles in the party to senior/government positions
- parties select candidates (quality is guaranteed)
What is the relation between party unity and ease of choosing a leader? Example?
A united party will find it easier to elect its leader than a divided one (eg. Conservatives united behind Theresa May such that her opponents dropped out of the leadership contest whilst Labour is divided over their support for Jeremy Corbyn)
How do political parties carry out the function of policy formulation?
AGGREGATION = parties devise a coherent policy programme after compromising the demands and ideas of members
Who is increasingly responsible for the drafting of manifestoes? Example?
Small group of elites in each party (eg. John Major famously said that the 1992 manifesto was “all me”
How do political parties carry out the function of forming government?
Without parties, Parliament would consist of individuals pursuing their own goals and policies -> incredibly incoherent manner of developing legislation
How do political parties carry out the function of political engagement and participation? (3)
- parties constantly seek to educate the public of current issues facing the UK and their proposed policies
- depending on level of internal democracy, members can have influence over policy and leaders
- provides voters with a clear choice of policies during GE (confusion may arise if voting for individual candidates -> lose of engagement)
- media and PGs can be said to have taken over this role
What are the four types of party systems?
- Dominant party system
- Two-party system
- Single-party system
- Multi-party system
What is a dominant party system? Example?
Where multiple parties exist, but only one holds government (eg.; Japan from 1950s to 1990s under the Liberal Democratic party)
What is two-party system? Example?
Where multiple parties compete for office, but only two have a realistic chance of forming government (eg. UK with Labour and Conservative)
What is a single-party government? Example?
Where one party holds government power, controls elections and bans other parties from contesting (eg. North Korea)
What is a multi-party system? Example?
Where multiple parties compete for office, and government consists of coalitions with different combinations of parties (eg. Italy)
Has the UK ever resembled a dominant party system?
Some argue that the UK resembled a dominant party system under Conservatives from 1979 to 1997, and Labour from 1997 to 2010
What are the five categories in the political spectrum? (starting from left)
Communism -> socialism -> liberalism -> conservatism -> fascism
What are general economic left-wing principles?
- progressive tax rates + wealth tax
- high level of government intervention in economy
- nationalisation of key industries
- strict regulations to prevent monopolies
- anti-capitalism
- relaxed approach to government borrowing
- protectionism of key industries
- anti-EU
- high redistribution of wealth
- strong trade union power
What are general social left-wing principles?
- multicultural, cosmopolitan
- support for refugees
- liberal opinions (pro-choice, LGBTS+)
- pro-immigration
- change should be instigated by government
- comprehensive welfare system
- rehabilitative approach to crime
What are general economic right-wing principles?
- low levels of taxation
- austerity
- pro-capitalism + free-market economics
- no redistribution of wealth
- privatisation of key industries
- relaxed regulations to markets
- weak trade union power
- anti-EU
- low levels of government intervention
What are general social right-wing principles?
- nationalist
- weak support for refugees
- anti-immigration
- conservative opinions (pro-life, lack of LGBTQ+ rights)
- welfare system to support only the most needy
- authoritative approach to crime
What are general economic centrist principles?
- pragmatic approach to government spending
- largely free-market economics with some government intervention
- mild redistribution of wealth
- pro-EU
What are general social centrist principles?
- strong welfare system but targeted at most needy
- multicultural
- mix of authoritative and rehabilitative approach to crime
- tolerant attitudes to social issues
- support for rights balanced with need for security
How are parties funded? (6)
- Membership
- Trade unions
- Fundraising events
- Donors
- Short/Cranborne money
- Policy Development Grants
How does membership fund parties? Examples (2)?
Decline in membership has led to decline in revenue from this source
(eg. Conservative membership was about 100,000 in 2016)
(eg. even with Labour’s surge in membership in 2015, it only accounted for less than 20% of funding, and this is already one of higher figures)
How do trade unions fund parties (2)? Example?
- trade unions historically funded Labour party
- choice to opt-out of funding Labour has led to decrease in funding from this source
(eg. 80% of funding for Labour were from trade unions in early 2000s, almost halved to 45% in 2016)
How do donors fund parties? Example?
Conservatives rely heavily on donations from businesses, individuals and organisations (eg. nearly 60% of funding for Conservatives in 2016 came from individuals)
How do Policy Development Grants fund parties? (2)
- a pot of £2m is shared amongst all parties (that have 2 MPs sitting in Parliament) to fund research to develop policies (consulting experts)
- funding is distributed based on number of seats won in previous GE
How does short money fund parties?
Funding to opposition parties in HoC (must meet criteria) to cover expenses of parliamentary business to ensure high-quality scrutiny of government
What is the criteria for opposition parties to be granted short money? (2)
- At least 2 seats in Parliament OR
2. 1 seat in Parliament and at least 150,000 votes nationally
What is the difference between short money and Cranborne money?
Short money is for HoC
Cranborne money is for HoL
What are the two Acts that regulated party funding?
- Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA 2000)
- Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 (PPE 2009)
What did the PPERA 2000 do? (4)
- Set restrictions for election campaign spending (cannot spend over £30,000 per constituency)
- Non-residents cannot make donations
- Donations over £500 must be declared to the Electoral Commission
- Further restrictions to devolved assembly campaign spending
What did the PPE 2009 do?
Electoral Commission to investigate cases and impose fines
What are some controversies over donations to parties? (3)
- Cash for honours: Tony Blair and David Cameron accused over cronyism after several major donors were nominated for peerage, including Angus Fraser (hedge fund proprietor) who donated over £1m to the Conservatives)
- Non-doms scandal: Lord Ashcroft was discovered to have made a series of donations totalling near £7m to the Conservatives despite being registered as living overseas
- Bernie Ecclestone; suspicion arose when there was a subsequent delay in the ban of tobacco advertisements in the F1 motor races after the former chief executive donated over £1m to Labour)
What is the issue with having wealthy donors fund parties? (3)
- issue of corruption and bribery
- donors have influence over policy yet cannot be held accountable by the public
- reduces the legitimacy of Lords (cash for honours)
What are the pros of state party funding? (4)
- parties (especially Lib Dems) will be on equal financial footing (reduces the advantage wealthier parties have in regards to publicity)
- funding from individuals, organisations or businesses may be seen as bribery or corruption
- politicians can focus on representing the interests of constituents rather than courting donors
- wealthy donors seek political influence yet cannot be held accountable by the public
What are the cons of state party funding? (5)
- hard to convince voters of greater need to state fund parties during austerity drive
- parties will always have unequal resources (personnel)
- difficult to determine how state funding will be allocation (if based on electoral success, major parties will remain in advantageous position)
- voters should not be expected to fund a party that they do not support
- parties already receive funding from the state (short money + PDGs)
What are some factors that affect party success? (7)
- Leadership
- Performance of outgoing government
- Policy
- Unity
- Media image
- Finance
- Electoral system
How does leadership affect party success? (Hint: qualities)
Voters look for desirable qualities such as honesty, ability to lead, media image, intelligence and experience
How might the significance of leadership differ for major parties? (in terms of party success)
It is likely to be more significant as the leader has a higher chance of becoming the next PM
Assess Theresa May’ leadership in terms of qualities possessed and 2017 GE result (6)
- Experience (6 years as Home Secretary; several shadow cabinet positions)
- Ability to lead (party unanimously supported her as leadership contest was unopposed)
- Intelligent (able to handle complex questions)
- Honesty (seen as having integrity)
- Media image (no bad press until leaders’ debate for 2017 GE onwards)
- Lost her majority in 2017 GE -> perceived as weak
Assess Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership in terms of qualities possessed and 2017 GE result (5)
- Experience (no ministerial experience)
- Intelligent (not seen as overtly bright)
- Ability to lead (party divided over him; passed votes of no confidence against him in 2016)
- Honest (highly praised for his honesty, down-to-earth manner)
- Sweetest of defeats -> effective campaigning, populist support, youthquake
How has Nicola Sturgeon raised the profile of the SNP?
Her competence in debates and charisma has led to SNP dominance in Scotland
How does the performance of the outgoing government affect party success?
If outgoing government performs poorly, support for other parties increases (especially the opposition party)
What is an example of performance of outgoing government affecting party success?
Support for Conservatives after ‘Winter of Discontent’ led to Conservative victory
How does policy affect party success?
Voters vote for the manifesto that they support
How might the significance of policy differ now compared to previous decades? (in terms of policy success)
Major parties tend to have centrist ‘catch-all’ policies that appeal to majority of the public -> less discernment between manifesto programmes -> less significant HOWEVER 2017 GE manifestoes were incredibly different (Conservatives centre-right; Labour left)
What is an example of policy affecting party success?
Michael Foot’s manifesto for the 1983 GE dubbed the ‘Longest Suicide Note in History’ led to landslide Conservative victory as Labour’s support fell by almost 10 percentage points
How does unity affect party success?
Divided parties stand little chance of electoral success
What is an example of unity affecting party success?
Labour party was wholly united around Tony Blair and New Labour whilst John Major’s party was divided over the issue of EU membership -> landslide Labour victory (supermajority of over 160)
How does media image affect party success? (4)
- Newspapers
- Television
- Broadcasting rules
- Media exposure
Evaluate the case of newspapers affecting party success (media image) (1 + 3)
- openly campaign for certain parties -> readers vote according to the newspaper they read
HOWEVER - trend is not strong
- readers may choose newspaper based on own ideologies
- evidence shows that newspapers enforce existing party affiliations rather than swaying voters
What are two examples demonstrating the relationship between how readers of newspapers vote according to newspaper party affiliations? (prop and opp)
Opp: 50% of Guardian readers voted for Labour and 60% of Times readers voted for Conservative
Prop: ‘it’s the Sun wot won it’ 1992 Conservative victory
How does finance affect party success?
Wealthier parties are able to fund better publicity whilst smaller parties do not get much exposure
What is an example of a well-funded party? (specific amount needed)
Conservatives received over £11m from 2015-2017
How does electoral system affect party success?
First-past-the-post system
- discriminates against smaller parties
- discriminates against parties with widespread support
- favours major parties
- can lead to tactical voting
What are two example of electoral system affecting party success? (discriminates against widespread support + favour main parties)
- UKIP won over 12% of the national vote but won only 1 seat
- Conservative and Labour won over 80% of total votes in 2017 GE
How does television affect party success? (media image)
Televised leaders’ debate educated public on key policies and leadership of each party
What are two examples of television affecting party success? (1 successful 1 failure)
- Nick Clegg performed well in the 2010 leaders’ debate, with many other leaders often agreeing with him -> Lib Dem support increased by 7 percentage points immediately after whilst Labour and Conservative support fell -> Lib Dem entered coalition
- Theresa May refused to partake in the 2017 leaders’ debate -> seen as arrogant and out-of-touch -> lost majority
How do broadcasting rules affect party success? (media image)
Broadcasts must ensure fair coverage of each party (so no party is given an advantage)
How does media exposure affect party success?
Parties in the spotlight gain free publicity and raises their profile
What is an example of media exposure affecting party success?
Nigel Farage was proficient in manipulating the media to ensure that UKIP was often the subject of press headlines -> won over 12% of national vote
What are the different party systems in the different regions of the UK?
Wales and NI: multi-party system
England: two-party system
Scotland: dominant party system
How does the emergence of a multi-party system in the UK affect the formation of government? (3)
- Unclear outcome
- Prevents strong and stable government
- Coalition/minority governments become more common
