political parties

Question 1

what was traditional conservatism within the party?

Answer 1

Tory party 17th century defended crown and Church of England, evolved to defend property and traditional authority

Question 2

what was one-nation conservatism within the party?

Answer 2

Disraeli sought to bridge gap between classes through paternalistic social policy. peaked after WWII when they accepted changes introduced by labour e.g mixed economy, NHS

Question 3

what was Thatcherism and New Right within the party?

Answer 3

sought to reduce state intervention in the economy, ‘roll back the state’ and cut taxes, strong nationalistic character and intolerant of alternative lifestyles

Question 4

Cameron’s Conservative party

Answer 4

2005-2016, identified as a ‘liberal conservative’, tolerant e.g. supported gay marriage, showed interest in environment and socially disadvantaged young people.

2010 coalition defined by spending cuts after recession, he then held and lost EU referendum 2016 leading to resignation

Question 5

how was Cameron’s ideas close to Thatcher?

Answer 5

• economic policy: spending cuts, Whitehall budgets cut by up to 25%
• welfare policy: cut costs and encouraged those on benefits to be more self reliant
• law and order: more liberal, ‘hug a hoodie’ speech, tough sentencing along with ‘rehabilitation revolution’
• foreign policy: strong links to USA, supported air strikes against islamic terror groups in Syria and Iraq

Question 6

May’s Conservative party

Answer 6

2016-2019, called snap election in 2017 to gain mandate but lost majority and formed minority government with DUP. aimed to created industrial strategy and set energy price cap but wanted to reintroduce grammar schools and repeal fox-hunting legislation

ultimately failed to get Brexit plan through and resigned

Question 7

Old Labour within the party

Answer 7

founded to get more WC MPs in parliament to push for improved working and living conditions for WC.

post war labour government was social democratic, emphasised importance of welfare policy in redistributing wealth and creating fairer society, e.g. comprehensive schools, NHS

Question 8

Old Labour within the party

Answer 8

founded to get more WC MPs in parliament to push for improved working and living conditions for WC.

post war labour government was social democratic, emphasised importance of welfare policy in redistributing wealth and creating fairer society, e.g. comprehensive schools, NHS

Question 9

why did the party transition to New Labour?

Answer 9

as people became more affluent policies that appealed solely to the working class were not enough, it aimed to find a third way between old style socialism and free-market capitalism

Question 10

New Labour within the party?

Answer 10

Blair won a landslide victory in 1997, labour became more promarket and moved right, e.g. dropped clause IV dedicated to public ownership of services.

controversial, some saw it as a betrayal of their heritage, others said it was necessary adaptation to a changing society

Question 11

what were key features of New Labour in power?

Answer 11

• emphasis on wealth created rather than redistribution, e.g. introduced minimum wage but £3.60 (lower)
• people need to be aware of responsibilities aswell as rights, ‘tough on crime, tough on causes of crime’
• responsibility in handling national finances, conserve resources before investing in public services, e.g. increase in national insurance led to largest rise in NHS spending
• influence of liberal ideology, devolution and HRA, but extended time suspects could be detained without charge and proposed introduction of identity cards

Question 12

SNP beliefs

Answer 12

centre-left, main purpose to secure Scottish independence from UK and believe Scotland should remain in EU due to majority of Scotland voting remain

Question 13

SNP leadership and successes

Answer 13

2007 Alex Salmond formed a minority SNP government which pressured government to extend their powers e.g. taxing and borrowing and holding a referendum in 2014

referendum results were 55% remain and 45% stay leading to Salmonds resignation, replaced by Nicola Sturgeon who led the party during their successful 2015 election where they won 56 of 59 seats

Question 14

the Green Party general beliefs

Answer 14

centre left party concerned with environmental issues and reducing social inequality, pro EU as they see it as a safeguard for environmental protection

Question 15

what are Green Party environmental beliefs?

Answer 15

phase out fossil fuel based energy and nuclear power and implement renewable solutions

fracking is environmentally disastrous and should be stopped

Question 16

what are the green parties beliefs about reducing social inequality?

Answer 16

creeping privatisation of NHS has to end
abolish university tuition fees
wealth tax to fund creation of new jobs

Question 17

what is a party system?

Answer 17

the way in which the parties in a political system are grouped and structured

Question 18

what is a one party dominant system?

Answer 18

a number of parties but only one has a realistic prospect of holding power

Question 19

what is a two party system?

Answer 19

two parties compete for power at elections, other parties have no real chance of winning e.g. USA

Question 20

what is a two and a half party system?

Answer 20

two large parties are the main players but challenged by the growth of a smaller third party

Question 21

what is a multi-party system?

Answer 21

a number of parties content to form a government, coalitions become the norm

Question 22

what factors affect party success?

Answer 22

leadership
party unity
media
policies

Question 23

how does leadership affect party success?

Answer 23

a charismatic and competent leader attracts votes unlike weak leaders

e.g. 2015 Ed Miliband was unlikeable and was mocked in the press, Thatcher won 1979 election not because she was popular because she seemed strong and offered a tough response to strikers

Question 24

how does party unity affect party success?

Answer 24

divided parties don’t perform well at elections and have difficulty organising and governing

e.g. Major’s party was highly divided over EU and lost in a landslide to a united Labour Party led by Blair who looked strong and fresh

Question 25

how does media affect party success?

Answer 25

media is main way public receive political info, demonstrating its importance for electoral success. newspapers, TV and more recently social media play an important role

e.g. 1992 ‘its the sun wot won it’

Question 26

how do policies affect party success?

Answer 26

parties attract voters by using policies in their manifesto they think the public will support, generally a few major policies will become battleground issues e.g. Brexit in 2017 and 2019 elections