political parties

Question 1

what is a political party?

Answer 1

a group of people that are drawn together by a shared set of beliefs or ideologies. Most parties aspire to form a government

Question 2

what is a pressure group?

Answer 2

represent a sectional interest and are concerned with a narrow range of ideas, eg the environment. They may try to influence political parties to adopt their ideas but do not enter their own candidates at elections.

Question 3

what are the functions of political parties/

Answer 3

Representation: political parties have a function to represent people of certain ideological views; more right-wing thinkers are drawn to the conservative party and left-wing thinkers are drawn to the Labour Party.

Participation: have a duty to ensure people are participating in politics; by voting, joining parties, and supporting through funding.
Recruiting office-holders: party memberships can lead to the recruitment of candidates for public office.

Formulating policy: parties tend to form policy that aligns with their beliefs, they set out the policies they wish to enact before being elected into government in the manifesto.

Providing government: once the election is won, the political party has the option to form a government. The government then has control over parliament and can pass the manifesto into law. PM is not directly elected by the people but usually is the leader of the largest party.

Question 4

how are political parties funded?

Answer 4

MPs are paid from general taxation (basic wage of $76,000) and then can claim expenses to cover the costs for running for office living in Westminster and their constituency and also travelling between the two. > causes resistance to using the people’s taxes for the wages of MPs. So funding also comes from subscriptions of memberships.

powerful interests can influence decisions essentially by donating large sums to political parties

Question 5

Tony Blair and Mr Ecclestone Case Study

Answer 5

Blair accepted 1 mil from Bernie Ecclestone for exemption from the tobacco advertising ban in F1 racing

Question 6

what is Labour typically funded by?

Answer 6

trade unions (A trade union or labour union, often simply referred to as a union, is an organisation of workers intent on “maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment”, such as attaining better wages etc)

Question 7

what party is least funded?

Answer 7

Lib Dems are least funded and say that large parties accept large donations in return for honours; eg becoming a member of the House of Lords.

Question 8

what did the 2000 political parties, elections and referendums act do?

Answer 8

The Act created an independent Electoral Commission to regulate political parties and their funding arrangements. It also required parties to submit statements of their accounts on a regular basis, and prohibited the receipt of funds from foreign or anonymous donors.

Question 9

what was the ‘cash for peerage scandal’?

Answer 9

2006: ‘Cash for Peerage’ scandal in 2006, several members who had donated to the Labour Party were nominated for honours.

Question 10

what was a potential reform to cash for peerages?

Answer 10

Potential reform to this ^ Civil servant Sir Hayden Phillips suggested that parties are funded by taxpayers’ money ( was ignored essentially).

Question 11

what are arguments for state funding?

Answer 11

It would remove the great disparity in resources available to different-sized parties.

It might encourage more participation in politics from the public

Parties play a big role in representative democracy therefore they deserve public funding.

It would curb the possibility of corrupt private bankers influencing party policy.

Question 12

what are the arguments against state funding?

Answer 12

Greater state regulation leads to less party independence.

Taxpayers would resent compulsory contributions to parties they dislike.

Public funding can isolate parties from the wishes of the voters

It is hard to decide how much support a party should have to qualify for funding.

Question 13

conservative party?

Answer 13

Conservative party principles
Tradition, “ Confident forward-looking nations don’t erase their history, they add to it.”
Sticking to what they know.

Conservatism was developed in the 18th and 19th centuries and prioritises order and security. Seeks traditional evolutionary and pragmatic solutions to political issues today.

Question 14

one nation conservativism

Answer 14

-Based on ideas of paternalism, pragmatism, and consensus.
-It sought to introduce social reforms to reduce social inequalities, with the rich fulfilling their noblesse oblige to the needs of the poor- believes in philanthropic ideas ( the wealthy giving to the poor promotes stability within social inequality)
Support property rights
Supports welfare and the state helping the poor.
Low tax
Strong on law and order

Question 15

Thatcherism and The New Right

Answer 15

Ideas linked with neo-liberalism ( free market capitalism and freedom of the individual) and neo-conservatism (looking to the past for something better)

Favoured the individual as opposed to the state.

Associated with Thatcher but also Lizz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng.
Has a strong nationalistic character and was intolerant of ‘alternate’ lifestyles (anti-permissiveness), believing instead in traditional values.

Living within one means

Sound, ‘honest money’

Economic growth

Reactionaries favour returning to a better time

Question 16

what was David Cameron’s take on Thatcherism?

Answer 16

Economic policy: wanted to reduce the budget deficit from the previous government. This was done by public spending cuts to maintain the confidence of financial institutions.

Welfare Policy: intended to cut costs and make those who are receiving benefits more self-reliant

Law and Order: more understanding for young offenders, ‘hug a hoodie’. He supported tough punishments but also rehabilitative approaches to stop people from reoffending.

Foreign Policy: strong links with the USA, support for air strikes against Islam terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq.

Question 17

what is the history of the Labour Party?

Answer 17

Founded in the 1900s
The original purpose was to get working-class MPs into parliament.
Considered the peaceful parliamentary route to socialism.
Sought to reform capitalism rather than overthrow it.

Question 18

Old Labour (1945-1994)

Answer 18

Believed inequality, collectivism, controlled capitalism, social justice and class and society.

Policies based around limiting unemployment, welfare, trade unions, nationalisation, regulated economy, free education, rights and anti-discrimination law, wealth should not equal power and progressive taxation.

Question 19

New Labour (1994-2010)?

Answer 19

Revision of the traditional old labour values, has a strong emphasis on the working class and a less robust alliance with trade unions.

Believed in individualism, free market, welfare state, social justice and communitarianism.

Policies based around low-income tax, home ownership, small business support, privatisation, reduced corporate tax, weakening trade unions, spending on health and education, minimum wage etc.

Question 20

key features of New Labour

Answer 20

Strong emphasis on wealth creation rather than distribution; they wanted to reduce poverty but abolishing inequality was not a priority. (The introduced minimum wage was $3.60 per hour at the time.)

Believed that people need to be aware of their responsibilities to a community as well as their rights; introduced ASBOs which are anti-social behaviour orders which can ban an individual from partaking in a specific activity.

Responsibility for handling the national finances.

Enlisting the public sector to deliver public services.

Question 21

Labour under Gordon Brown and Ed Milliband

Answer 21

The financial crisis happened in 2008-2009, and this led to a shift in policy.

The treasury pumped money into the banking system to boost economic activity.
The government nationalised vulnerable banks to ensure stability.

Raised income tax by creating a new 50% band to be paid by those who earn more than $150,000 a year.

Attempt to maintain public spending.

Question 22

Jeremy Corbyn’s policies

Answer 22

Economic: increased investment in the economy to decrease regional financial inequalities.

Welfare: opposed to benefit cuts- thought the poor were victims of capitalism and deserved support.

Law and order: opposed to overly hard-line policies. Cut police numbers which some thought was jeopardising public safety.

Foreign Policy: against the use of force and wanted the UK to withdraw from the NATO military structure.

Question 23

liberal democrats?

Answer 23

Founded in 1988
Opposed the Tories
Believed in a constitutional reform
Civil liberties

Economic Policy: committed to eliminating the budget deficit, and raising basic income tax so that low-income people are relieved of paying tax.

Welfare Policy: controlled spending on benefits, uprating pensions and extending free childcare to allow parents to go to work.

Law and Order: emphasis on the rehabilitation of prisoners and the use of community service.

Question 24

classical liberals?

Answer 24

Believed in individual freedom by the state playing a minimal role in people’s lives.
Supported free trade.
Social reforms; old age pensions, and national insurance to discourage people from joining the LABOUR PARTY.
A break in the Labour Party meant that MPs had left and formed a group called the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Then the liberals allied with the SDP.

Question 25

2010 coalition

Answer 25

In May 2010 a coalition government was formed; the conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

They joined together in a time of financial crisis. Its goal was to minimise this and demonstrate its credentials as a responsible political party.

Question 26

other parties?

Answer 26

The emergence of other political parties first gained attention in a debate during the 2015 general election campaign where no less than 7 parties took part.

The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and The Green Party did not aim to form a government but instead, they aimed to force their agenda on larger parties. (more like pressure groups)

Question 27

Scottish National Party (SNP)

Answer 27

Founded in 1934, the centre-left party aims to secure independence for Scotland from the UK.

The SNP’s growing strength led to the Labour Party supporting the devolution in 1997.

The Blair government granted devolution to prevent the SNP from gaining more power.

Alex Sammond’s leadership helped the SNP form a majority government in 2011.
Westminster supported the extension of more power given to the Edinburgh administration.

The Scotland Act of 2012 and the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 were the results of this support.

During the referendum campaign, party leaders presented a united front against independence.
Nicola Sturgeon argued for another independence vote after the Brexit referendum in 2016.

The SNP refrains from voting on purely English issues to emphasise Scotland’s autonomy.
The passing of the English votes for English laws (EVEL) measure limited the influence of Scottish MPs at Westminster.

The SNP lost seats in the 2017 general election, reducing its influence at Westminster

Question 28

United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP)

Answer 28

Formed due to the dissatisfaction with the way the three main political parties seemed to accommodate themselves to the fast pace of European integration.

Radically right-wing populist party

Supporters tend to be older and more traditional people.
Often people with lower education and less job security.

When Eastern Europeans began arriving in the UK they saw it as a threat to ‘British jobs’

Appealed to people who became disillusioned with the three parties.

‘Taking back control front the EU’: taking control of policies on trade, fisheries and other areas of national sovereignty.
Other Policies: support for grammar schools, scrapping ‘green taxes’ that raise energy bills, increased spending on the NHS.

Restricting Immigration: The main policy in the 2015 election; there should be a cap on the number of migrants entering the country and we need a points-based system where only those with certain skills can enter.​​

Question 29

The Green Party

Answer 29

Centre-left political party

Concerned with environmental issues and reducing social inequality.

Pro- European as the EU provides environmental protection.

Environmental issues: phasing out the use of fossil fuel-based energy and nuclear power and instead implementing renewable solutions.

Reducing social inequality: not privatising the NHS, abolishing university tuition fees, ‘wealth tax’ that should fund the creation of new jobs and minimum wage should be increased to a living wage of $10 an hour.

Question 30

Multi-Party System

Answer 30

several parties contend to form a government; coalitions become the norm.

Question 31

Two-and-a-half-party system?

Answer 31

two larger parties are the main powers however there is a third party growing that challenges this power.

Question 32

Two-Party system

Answer 32

two parties competing for power at elections; other parties have no real chance.

Question 33

One-Party dominant system

Answer 33

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

Question 34

what does party success depend on?

Answer 34

Strength of the party’s leadership
The extent to which parties are united or divided.
The role of the media in projecting a particular image of a party.