political parties Flashcards
conservative party origin
-established from the tory party in 1830s
-traditionally one nation in its ideology
-one nation was a evolution of traditional conservatism after the industrial revolution
what does preserving the status quo include
-supporting traditional isntitutions
-pragmatically dealing with issues whilst keeping the status quo
-institutions like the church are important so must be preserved to moderate society
the role of the state (conservative party)
-one nation conservatism is a paternalistic ideology
-the rich have the responsibility to look after the poor
-supports a Keynsian economy but if the government must intervene it will
where did Thatcher move the party to
a free market right wing ideology party
The New Right Movement
combined an orthodox conservative state with a neo-liberal state
orthodox conservative ideas
social policy, law and order
orthodox conservative ideas
social policy, law and order
neo liberal conservative ideas
free market, monetarism and less regulation
key parts of thatecherism
-argued importance of individual needs over society
-proposed a small state with reduced govt intervention
-endorsed business deregulation and redyced trade union powers
key parts of thatecherism
-argued importance of individual needs over society
-proposed a small state with reduced govt intervention
-endorsed business deregulation and redyced trade union powers
key parts of thatecherism
-argued importance of individual needs over society
-proposed a small state with reduced govt intervention
-endorsed business deregulation and redyced trade union powers
thacherism VS one nation
-one nation more pragmatic whereas thatcherism more assertive
-one nation favours small change whereas thatcherism favours radical changes
-one nation supports mixed economy whereas thatcher supports free market economy
conservative ideas ; economy
increase higher tax rate
increase personal allowings
cut corporation tax
conservative ideas; welfare
means-testing the winter fuel allowance
ending triple locke on pensions
structural change to the welfare system
conservative ideas; foreign policy
exit EU single market and customs union
increase budget of MoD
keep trident - nuclear deterrant
2010 conservative manifesto included
stronger economic management
replace HRA with a UK Bill of rights
accepting EU principles
harder exams and state controls over schools
what was the first aim of the Labour Party
to represent the working class and bring them into parliament
old labour ideas
belief in nationalisation
opposition to capitalism
belief in equality
what is clause IV
part of labours 1918 constituion which consists and outlines old labour ideas e.g. nationalisation
new labour ideas
reduced trade union power and decreased reliance on them for funding
moving away fromtraditional labour policy on taxes and spending
acceptance of devolution
reforming instituions
human rights act
constituional change
labour ideas; economy
fairer moreprogressive taxing system
invst in education andinstrastructure
expansionary fiscal policy
welfare state
labour ideas; foreign policy
promoting a global Britain during and after brxit
focused on human rights and resolution of conflicts
stop support of war
euroskeptic
which parties merged to form Lib Dem party
liberal party and social democratic party
when did Lib Dem form
1988
how many seats did Lib Dem win in1997
46 seats
when did Lib Dem begin to lose seats
2006 after Nick Clegg became leader
lim dem ideas : foreign policy
promote international co-operaton
vote on the final brexit deal
remaning in the single market
lib dem ideas : economy
support capital investment
increasing tax on corporations
encouraging a libing wage
lib dem ideas : welfare
making benefit system fairier for young and disabled people
reform benfits assessments
revserse cons policies that cut benefits for some people
what is a dominant party system
where only one party has a realstic cha ce of winning political power
single party system
only one political party exists and all others are banned
two party systems
only two parties have a chance of wining and so power shifts between the two
the FPTP system is more likely to result in a two party sytems
how has uk got a two party system
minor party support decreasing
-UKIP support has collapsed
-green party only have 1 mp in parliament
-labour and conservtaive have hi=gherst chance ofnforming governemnt
3 functions of parties
Representation
Formulating policy
Foster participation
Which act discussed party funding
Political party, election and referendums act 2000
How much funding needs to be declared
Over £7,500
Roles of parties
Representation
Recruitment
Participation
Governing
Formulating policy
Electoral function
Who do labour rely on for funding
Trade unions e.g. UNITE donated £1.5 milliom
Who do conservatives rely on for funding and why
Corporations due to pro business stance
How much did each party spend in 2010 GE
Cons - £18m
Lab £11m
Lib Dem - £4
What act was established to control funding
Political parties, elections and referendums act 2000
What did the PPE&R Act 2000 establish
Ban on foreign donation
£20 million spending cap in general elections
No anonymous donations of £5000+
Submission of weekly funding reports
3 reasons for state funding of parties
-Removes spectre of corruption from donations to major parties
-Helps minority party
-elections are democratic so funding should be fair
3 reasons against state funding of parties
Raises question and diffculty of fair redistribution of money
Many may resent their taxes going to politicians
Freedom should mean option mot absolute requirement
Structure of Labour Party
-directly assigned to local branch:responsibility to select candidates and send delegates to CLP
-CLP:organise party on constituency level but role diminish by OMOV
-NEC: oversee policy proposals, final say on parliamentary candidates, enforce party discipline
What is the CLP
Constituency labour party
Labour Party annual conference
Once the sovereign policy making body
Role diminished in the 1990s
Cons local level organisation
Conservative Associations - help with administration of elections and campaigns
Cons regional level organisation
Conservative parties in devolved regions
E.g. Scottish conservatives and welsh conservative oarty
National level organisation - cons
National conservative convention
1922 committee
CChq
Board of the conservative party
What is the 1922 committee
A committee for the private conservative members in the house of commons
What does the NcC do
Make decisions for the voluntary party itself
Conservative leadership appointment process
Emphasises MP power
Vote on candidates and whittled down to 2
Vote is then open to every single member of party
OMOV
Often popularity vote
three theories of voting behaviour
sociological - linked to a member of a group e.g class
party identification - loyalty, tradition, family
issue voting - short term factors
6 long term factors impacting voting
social class
gender
party loyalty
religion region
voting - social class
until 1970 was stable, labour = working class,cons = middle/upper
class dealignment and ideological centralisation
in 2010 only 38% were class voters
in 1966 this was 66%
voting - gender
traditionally women voted cons until 1990s new labour
in 2010 men were most likely to vote conservative wihtin the under 50s
voting - party loyalty
declining and reflects declining membership levels
in 2005 only 10% claimed to have strong party identity
in 2005 there were 258,239 members of the Party. By the beginning of 2010 membership had fallen to 177,000. In the three years from 2010 to 2012 membership fell a further 44,000 to 133,000
voting - ethnicity
in 2015 42% of ethnic minorities were more likely to vote labour
voting - region
historically labour = north and cons = south
except central london being labour afilloiated
6 short term voting factors
economic performance
policy
leadership
tactical voting
party image
campaigning
voting - economic performance
labour suffered during the 20008 recession
voting - leaders
blair - accomplished figure with good media presence
tahtcher - strong assertive leader
1990s - cons had bad public image May described as “nasty party”
labour struggle with perception that they are reckless with finances
voting - campaigning
cons spent £78m in 2015 election, but may not be useful; in the newspapers especially those owned by Murdoch
labour leader appointment process
require 20% of MP support
and 5% of of either constituency parties support
OMOV ballet
AV electoral system
three similarities in leadership appointments
both have oMOV - not always been case as prior to 1998 only cons MPs could participate in their leadership elections and labour had EC system until 2015
candidates must be MPs but this is not the case for the Green Party
candidates require both support from MPs in their party
some mPs may be reluctant to support a challenge to the incumbent leader
leadership appointment synoptic links
since mid 1970s PMs have taken office following a leadership election rather than a GE (Callaghan, major, brown, may, Johnson, truss) raises questions on democracy and how enfranchised the electorate are, does the PM who has not faced GE have the mandate to govern?
old labour policies
nationalisation
redistribution of income and wealth
extended public sector
sought to modify capitalism
new labour policies
abandoned clause iv
found a third way between Thatcherism and socialism
aimed to appeal to all classes
testing and controlling education
multi party system - agree
small parties e.g SNP and Sinn Fein have grown in the devolved assemblies
in 2021 snap had 68/128 seats
cons and labour are not popular
uk political parties becoming more factionalised e.g. divisions over Brexit
2010 coalition
multi party system - disagree
only parties able to form govt have been lab and cons
coalitions don’t show multi party system they show a decline in the majority party total popularity
minor parties only gain traction for singular issues
