political parties Flashcards
what is a political party and how do they differ to pressure groups?
a political party is a group of people that are drawn together due to their similar beliefs and values. Though they may still be deeply divided. A political party will have a broad spectrum of things that they will fight for.
they will be different from pressure groups as they only campaign for a specific issue.
what functions do political parties perform within a democracy?
representation- the main role of the political parties is to represent the people, whom have voted for them.
participation- they will have people that they will encourage to participate in politics. an example of this would be labour lowering the annual subscription to £3
recruiting office holders- for a small number of people they will be able to hold office.
formulating policy- parties will formulate policy that will match the core beliefs of their party and this will lead to their manifesto, there are often key issues that parties will discuss for example the NHS.
providing government- the winning party will form a government and that party will control the business of parliament and will hope that they can pass their manifesto into law. the one who wins will typically have a large party. the prime minister is not voted for directly by the people though if they lose the confidence of their party then they are in a weak position.
the funding of UK political parties.
MPs are paid by general taxation and will also be allowed to claim expenses to cover the cost of running for election. most of the ways parties are funded are by subscription from membership and from fundraising events. though there will be state provision to help support the opposition.
the 2000 political parties, elections and referendums Act was passed, this would bring in rules such as the amount a political party could spend was capped at £30,000 and donations over £5000 would have to be declared.
there was the loans for peerages scandal in 2006-7.
Conservative funding- the top ten party donors have all donated funds that are over £1 million the top donations would donate over 2.5 million.
how is the funding of parties controversial?
some people believe that people with a lot of money and wealth can buy political power. this was prevalent in the days of “new labour”
Blair and Ecclestone- there was a connection between the donation of £1 million and the delay ban on smoking with regards to motor sports in 1997.
2006 many wealthy people that had donated to the Labour Party had been nominated for honours.
The 2000 Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act
an independent electoral commission was set up
the amount a party could spend was capped at £30,000 per constituency
donations for more than £5000 nationally and £1000 locally had to be declared.
donations from individuals that were not on the electoral roll were banned.
potential reforms that may take place with regards to funding?
in 2007 Sir Hayden Phillips suggested that parties should be funded by tax payers money. a suggestion by Labour and the Lib Dems in 2010 suggests that there should be limits on donations to parties, though this would be complicated as Labour would also gain a lot from the trade unions.
what are the arguments for and against state funding of parties?
FOR
parties play an important role in representative democracy
public funding would remove the disparity in what parties get
might encourage people to participate towards their part
would curb the influence of private backers on party policy
AGAINST
could lead to greater state regulation and reduce parties independence
hard to decide how much support a party should have to qualify for funding
could isolate parties from the wishes of the voter
taxpayers would resent compulsory contributions to parties of which they disapprove.
what is traditional conservatism?
a party that is dedicated to the defence of property and traditional authority against the threat of revolution. they would stress that gradual reform was necessary in order to conserve institutions. the party would gain support from the middle classes.
what is one-nation conservatism?
this was a form of conservatism that would try to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor and this was achieved through paternalistic means, for example the elite saw themselves as the natural leaders and they would help create a platform for the poor to feel aspired. the conservative prime minister disreali had this approach. they would reach the peak of their success in the generation after the world war 2 and would not undo most of their opponents work, they would commit to a pragmatic and idealistic approach.
what was Thatcherism and the new right and its key themes?
this was completely different to one nation policy, and would remove the view that it was necessary to compromise. they would seek to remove state intervention of the economy and would also seek to restore order with the trade unions.
key themes:
control of public spending and tax cuts
privatisation of industries and services that were taken into state ownership
legal limits on the power of trade unions
a tough approach to law and order
assertion of British interests abroad
a desire to protect national sovereignty against the EU
Thatcherites would encourage people to take responsibility for themselves.
what did the post-Thatcher party look like?
Thatcher would be a very defisive figure, and her successor would represent a continuation of the same policies though he would be less confrontational. though there would be a major defeat in 1997 and labour would take charge.
the next three leaders would all fail against Tony Blair, William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith and Micheal Howard would all fail. they would fail to appeal to a more diverse society.
what was David Cameron like as a prime minister? and what were his key policies?
he would be an admirer of Thatcher though he would also be aware that the country needed to change and would be someone who would describe himself as a “liberal conservative” who would also claim to be empathetic towards minorities, he would claim that he stood on the side of ordinary people. he would be progressive for example legalising gay marriage.
economic policy- was to reduce the budget deficit that would be inherited from labour, whom he would accuse of overspending. they would have some public spending cuts these were to maintain confidence of the financial markets, the budgets of Whitehall would be cut by 25%
welfare policy- the policies would be tough on benefits and sought to penalise governments, the universal credit system was sought to encourage people who were unemployed to seek employment. the private sector was also allowed to compete with state hospitals.
law and order- he would seem to be liberal and would introduce things such as “hug a hoodie”, though he would support tough sentencing on certain crimes after the 2011 London riots.
foreign policy- his approach would be consistent with Thatcherism, there would be strong links with the USA and support for air strikes against Islamic terror groups. there would also be some suspicion of Europe.
what was Old Labour?
Clement Attlee of 1945 would be the first Labour Prime Minister to have a majority government, who would have been considered an old socialist.
clause 4 would campaign for a more nationalist approach.
the labor governments from 1945 to the 70’s would showcase social democracy where they would not seek to abolish capitalism, rather they would fight for the workers. this would be the creation of comprehensive schools.
the defeat of James Callaghan in 1979 would signal a change in the party from socialism.
what is new labour?
this would be a move away from the hard left and people were becoming more affluent and a campaign just for the working class would not be enough.
under the leadership of Tony Blair clause 4 would be rewritten and it would no longer be committed to nationalistionism. The party would be come more pro-EU and the party would develop Links with the business side. the new labour government would lead the party towards the right.
what were Blairs key policies ? and why didn’t the socialists like him?
many of the old socialist would not like his attempts to modernise the party, they felt that his values would be too right wing and his 2003 Iraq war involvement would also affect his credentials.
key policy:
Emphasis on wealth creation rather than redistribution- would seek to reduce poverty but would not seek to eliminate inequality. they would introduce a NMW at a lower level and would encourage aspiration.
people need to be aware of responsibilities and rights- would bring in legal measures to deal with anti-social behaviour, Blair declared that Labour needed to be tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime.
Responsibility in handling of national finances- they would conserve resources before investing in key public services, the increase in National Insurance Contributions in 2002 led to the largest ever rise in spending on the NHS.
Enlisting the public sector to deliver public services- the PFI was enlisted to build new schools.
influence of liberal ideology on labour thinking- this would be in devolution and putting a less of an emphasis on Westminster, the passage of the HRA. however, the new gig would curb civil liberties in their campaign against crime and terrorism, extending the time that suspects could be detained, widening police powers and proposing the introduction of identity cards.
what did Labour look like under Gordon Brown?
the financial crisis and and recession in 2008-09 led to some key policies from Gordon Brown.
the treasury would pump money into the banking system in an attempt to boost the economy.
the government would nationalise or part nationalise key industries in order to restore faith in the banks.
he would create a new 50% band of tax for those who earned more than £150,000 per year,
he would propose to maintain public spending.
this would lead to claims that labour had abandoned the new labour ideology.
