Political Parties Flashcards
Define a political party
Political party = organised body seeking to win government by putting up candidates for election + mobilising a popular party
Explain the representation function of political parties and examples for how they do and don’t fulfil it
- Parties link the government + people together by representing public opinion with policy positions + claiming a mandate from votes
- Effective: UK Parties are now ‘catch-all parties’ - they have policies which they then enact with a mandate
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Ineffective:
Pressure groups are more effective forms of representation - 41% of Conservative MPs = privately educated - 65% of Sunak’s Cabinet = privately educated - compared to 9% in the general population
- 90% of Labour MPs went to uni in 2019
Explain the political engagement + participation function of political parties and examples for how they do and don’t fulfill it
- Provide opportunties for citizens to shape policy by joining the party
- Educates + mobilises electorate - which builds up loyalty
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Effective: Offer a range of activites = convassing, public meetings, campaigning
Party membership + running events - with specific links to organisations such as Labour + trade unions + the Fabian Society - Ineffective: Turnout in GEs has fallen shortly since 1997 - 59% 2001 + 67% 2019
- Party membership of the three major parties has fallen = unable to mobilise participation
- Voter dealingment - 44% had strong loyalty in 1964 + 9% 2015
Explain the political recruitment function of political parties and examples for how they do and don’t fulfill it
- They train + recruit people for elections + government posts
- Help fill seats in elected bodies
- Train future party leaders by giving them posts to develop
- Effective: Parties provide the candidates for elections + fill seats in local councils, devolved assemblies + the HOC
- Headhunting unusual candidates + providing them with support + structure for people becoming MPs to help campaign
- Ineffective: Parties choose leaders who will win elections + are popular rather than competent
- Party leaders are chosen by party members = 2% of the pop- aren’t democratically accountable
- Reliance on connecttions + special advisors who later become ministers e.g Alex Burghart
- Cost - to campaign to be an MP you have to quit your job for 6 months min + need money to campaign
Explain the policy formulation function of political parties and examples for how they do and don’t fulfill it
- Set public policy giving voters a clear choice - have clear ideological convictions
- Manifesto is a means that parties can be judged by
- Effective: Develop manifestos which lay out legislation they want to implement
- Labour - wanting to renationalise railways
- Conservatives - work with experts - Cass Report - overly ideological
- Ineffective: Parties no longer have ideological choices have technocratic choices
- More effective choice of leader or personality over parties - follow public opinion
Explain the stable government function of political parties and examples for how they do and don’t fulfill it
- Parties form government + then implement their manifesto
- Governments are drawn from the same party = same values
- Parties pass legislation + scrutinise gov policy
- Effective: Typically a single party has a majority in the HOC + clear manifesto
- Opposition = ‘government in waiting’
- Vote whipping - 3-line whip
- Ineffective: Has been a decline in party unity - weakened a party’s control over the HOC
- Increase in internal party divisions + rebellions + overthrowing leaders - May had a 12 majority at the start
- Many PM’s in a few years - May-Johnson-Truss-Suank + many SNP leaders - 3 in 3 years
Explain how party’s fund their expenses
- Parties raise the majority of their election costs from the voluntary subscriptions of their membership + fundraising events in MP’s constituencies
- There is a special state provision to support the activities of the opposition in Parliament called Short money
Explain the issues and controversies around party funding
- The large parties have been accused of offering political honours such as places in the HOL to the most generous benefactors
- Mohamed Mansour was given an honour by Sunak in March 2024 after giving the party £5 mil in 2023
Explain what reforms have been implemented to make party funding transparency
2000 Political Parties, Elections and Referndums Act:
1. Independent electoral commission was set up to supervise party spending on election campaigns
2. Party’s were capped at £30,000 in a constituency
3. Donations of more than £5000 (nationally) or £1000 (constituency) had to be declared + published at regular intervals
4. Donations from indivduals not on the UK electoral roll = bannned
Explain why the reforms regarding party funding weren’t compelty effective + what it later led to
- ‘Cash for peerages’ scandal in 2006 - several wealthy individuals had loaned money to the Labour party had been nominated for honours
- Party was exploting a loophole in the law that meant that only ourtright gifts were regulated
- Led to loans becoming subejct to the same rules as donations + spending limits for parties were revised in the run-up to the **2010 GE
- Max a party can raise** = £35 mil
Explain arguments regarding potential reforms that should be made to party funding
- In 2007 a report by Sir Philips (Former CS) proposed to address the problem of private donations moving public funding through taxation
- However pressure to make public spending cuts meant that placing additional burdens on taxpayers
Explain arguments regarding potential reforms that should be made to party funding by the Lib Dems + Labour + the Conservatives response to it
- Labour + Lib Dems in 2015 supported imposing limits on individual donations to parties - Conservatives stood to lose the most so wanted the same with Labour’s treade union backers
- 2016 Trade Union Act oliged new trade union members choose whether toopt in’ to making payments to the political levy - led to drop in LP donations
Explain criticisms of political parties
- Many stifle debate by enforcing uniformity + conformity among its members - whips ensure they all follow the **party line so representation is weak
- Prevents new or radical ideas** from developing in order to keep support from the mainstream
- E.g 7 Labour MPs suspended from the party for voting against the two-child benefit cap
Explain the parties position on economic policy
Economy
* 3 main UK parties plege not to increae the main taxes NI, income tax + VA
* Conservatives pledged to cut NI + reduced it further during the Parliament + abolish it entirely for self-employed people if re-elected
* Labour reversed (pre-election) it planned annual £28 billion spending on green investment
* Labour creating state-funded energy company - Great British Energy
* Labour to renationalise railways - Conservatives took over 4 failing rail companies + propsoed to set up a body to manage infrastructure + give out contracts
Explain the parties position on the welfare state
Welfare
* Labour has pledged to reform the Health Secretary posed the choice ‘modernise or die’ - temporary reliance on private services + more digitalisaion e.g more diagnostic scanners. 40,000 new appointments
- All 3 main parties pledged to recruit more GPs + have all backed the plan to phase out smoking
- Labour will cut welfare payments when people, especially young people, refuse to take up the employment found for them
- Labour have not committed to scrap the two-child limit on payments + reform but not abolish UC
- Lib Dems have proposed to scrap two-child limit + raise Universal Credit + reform social care - more help for carers
- All parties pledge to keep the triple lock on pensions
