political parties Flashcards
what is a political party
people with similar beliefs who promote ideas that are important to their members
how do parties promote democracy
people vote for a party of their choice who has promised in their manifesto ideals which are important to them
what are roles of political parties
1 - contest in elections
2 - seek to gain power through a majority
3 - represent singular issues eg Brexit party
4 - represent different aspects of the public
5 - promote democracy
what type of party system is the UK
a two party system: where 2 parties have a chance at gaining power
how did parties used to mainly get funding (1970s)
members fees, wealthy donars and private sources
what is Cranbourne money
state funds for the House of Lords opposition
what is short money
state funds for House of Commons opposition which allows them to scrutinise the gov more effectively
what is state party funding
taxpayer money to cover all parties costs
strengths of state party funding
1 - allow parties to equally compete
2 - reduce time wasting to get funds so more time focused on election campaign and policies
drawbacks to state party funding
1 - parties will remain unequal depending on membership and influence they have over the public
2 - corruption is the perception that the public will have if the money is misspent
liberal democrats main objectives
1 - electoral reform
2 - codified constitution and entrenched reforms
3 - free tuition fees
were lib dems succesful with electoral reform?
No. there was a referendum in 2011 for the ALTERNATIVE VOTE but there was only a 42% turnout because of a lack of media coverage. 68% voted NO.
The conservatives held this referendum to keep the lib dems quiet - they knew it wouldn’t be succesful
was the 2015 coalition damaging to the lib dems and why?
Yes it was damaging because they had to back down on many of their key policies and values which were important to the liberal democrats
EG tuition fees was a big downfall because they TRIPPLED under the coalition
At the end of 2010, their rep in the opinion polls was already down to 8%
“broken policies”
TRADITIONAL CONSERVATISM summary
until 1970s
Minimal change, freedom or difference in opinion because they didn’t want a revolution like the French, harsh punishments acts as deterrants, pragmatism, one nation, gov shouldnt be submissive to the people because people cant be trusted
NEO LIBERALISM summary
mostly focused on the economy and aims to strip back any interference of the state and encourage individualism
low taxes incentivise people to work and making people work minimises dependency culture
eg thatcher letting people buy their council houses expanded her electoral stability because people were owning properties
NEO CONSERVATISM summary
a strong state to keep control
law and order are crucial, restore traditional values and suspicious of multinational associations such as the EU
strong authoritarian state to prevent social conflict
eg thatcher refusing to increase the wages of miners because that market wasn’t ‘competitive’.
similarities between conservatism stands
- both support low taxation and free market
- both are nationalist and pursue british national interests eg BREXIT was expansionist and the referendum was what the people wanted
- both have authoritarian views on law and order:
how are pol parties funded
membership
fundraising events
donations
loans from wealthy individuals
how to larger parties benefit from funding
more access
eg conservative attratcs large donations from wealthy individuals
eg labour recieves a lot from trade unions: £11 million in 2015 which made up 60% of the partys total income
how are smaller parties affected by funding
no regular source
small membership
their prospects of winning are less, so donors are less likely to donate
donors who do give money to small parties are acting out of idealism rather than any prospect of gaining influence
what regulated party fundign
the political parties, elections and referendums act 2000
- limits on how much spent for parl elections
- donations over £500 to be declared
- donations over £7500 had to be placed in a electoral register
this stressed transparacy rather than serious limits on how much was being donated
why is funding controversial
funding is biased towards two biggest parties
eg in 2015 Labour had £51.2 million and cons had £41.9 million
therefore larger parties are at a bigger advantage and small parties at great disadvantage which promotes political inequality
what is cash of honours
phrase used by media to describe the suspicion that some donations to parties are made in the hope and expectation that the giver will receive an honour such as peerage in the HOL or knighthood
considered unlawful but is difficult to prove
examples of some large donations to parties
- 2015-2017 CONSERVATIVES recieved £3.6 million from property companies
- one indiv called Angus Fraser donated over £1.1 million to the conservatives
- The Unite trade union donated £650,000 to labour in 2017
