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political parties Flashcards

1
Q

what is a political party?

A

a group of like-minded individuals who seek to realise their shared goals by putting candidates up for elections and securing public office

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2
Q

what is a mandate?

A

the right of the governing party to pursue the policies it sets out in its general election manifesto

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3
Q

what is a manifesto?

A

pre-election policy document where party sets out policy pledges and legislative proposals it will carry out if returned to office

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4
Q

what does the Salisbury doctrine stop the Lords from doing?

A

blocking or wrecking legislation promised in the manifesto of the governing party

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5
Q

how can the concept of an electoral mandate be argued to make sense?

A

-franchise widely held, individual voter registration
-FPTP usually leads to single party gov, should be able to implement their policies
-manifestos available to voters, can be educated on them
-media summarises main ideas/policies of each party

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6
Q

how can the concept of an electoral mandate be argued to not make sense?

A

-low turnout means unconvincing mandate
-coalition govs make compromise programme, no mandate for this
-most voters pay little attention to manifestos
-concept of mandate flawed, cannot vote for/against party based on one single policy

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7
Q

what are the roles of political parties in the UK?

A

representation
encouraging political engagement and participation
political recruitment
formulating policy
providing stable gov

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8
Q

how is representation a function/ role of political parties?

A

represent views of members
class dealignment + catch’all parties undermine proper representation

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9
Q

how is engagement and participation a role of political parties?

A

make people aware of issues, educate
promote participation in democratic process, can encourage participation within party

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10
Q

how is political recruitment a role of political parties?

A

assess qualities of those seeking public office, choose best candidates

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11
Q

how is policy formulation a role of political parties?

A

discuss and develop policy proposals to present to voters
determine the direction of the governing of country

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12
Q

how is providing a stable gov a role of political parties?

A

without them Commons just individuals
present voters with choices + provide order

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13
Q

how are political parties and pressure groups similar?

A

political parties contest elections, some pressure groups field candidates for elections

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14
Q

how are political parties and pressure groups different?

A

-parties have broad range of issues, PG’s follow narrower cause
-parties open membership, many PGs sectional + exclusive in membership
-parties want government power, PGs want to influence gov
-parties highly organised, members have influence, PGs largely internally undemocratic

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15
Q

traditionally how have Labour and Conservatives been funded?

A

Labour - trade unions
Conservatives- wealthy businessmen + businesses

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16
Q

what did all parties used to rely on for funding, what do they rely on now?

A

membership fees
donations from wealthy individuals

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17
Q

what did the rise of large individual donations lead to the impression of?

A

that access or political influence could be bought

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18
Q

when was the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums act (PPERA)?

A

2000

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19
Q

what did the PPERA do?

A

imposed overall limit on party spending in general election campaigns (£30,000 per constituency)
parties to declare all donations over £5,000

20
Q

when was the Political Parties and Elections act (PPEA)?

A

2009

21
Q

what did the PPEA do?

A

tighter regulations on spending by candidates
allow Electoral Commission to investigate cases + impose fines
restrict donations from non-UK residents

22
Q

what is Cranborne money?

A

funds paid to opposition parties in Lords, cover administrative costs so they can provide proper scrutiny

23
Q

what is short money?

A

funds to opposition parties in Commons, cover costs and scrutinise, available to all parties who win at least 2 seats

24
Q

how much short money can opposition parties receive per seat?

A

£21,000

25
Q

what are the arguments for parties being state funded?

A

-if not funded by taxpayers, funded by wealthy individuals + interest groups
-allow politicians to focus on representing constituents
-smaller parties could compete on equal footing
-make parties more accountable

26
Q

what are the arguments against parties being state funded?

A

-taxpayers shouldn’t have to bankroll parties they disagree with
-politicians isolated from real world issues - denied access to interest groups
-parties will always have unequal resources

27
Q

what are the features of political parties in the UK?

A

-members share similar views/values
-seek to secure elections/form gov at various levels
-organisation that develops policy, recruits candidates, identifies leaders

28
Q

what are the main ways that parties are funded?

A

-membership subscriptions
-fundraising events
-donations from supporters
-loans from wealthy individuals/banks
-self-financing of candidates
-up to £2 million in grants from Electoral Commission
-opposition money

29
Q

how does funding impact the success of smaller parties?

A

have no regular sources of income
donors less likely to give money to parties with little chance of getting in power

30
Q

what are donations from wealthy individuals seen as?

A

undemocratic forms of influence

31
Q

what are the 4 basic solutions to party funding?

A
  1. restrictions on size of individual donations
    2.restrictions on how much parties can spend
    3.restrict donations to individuals
    4.replace all funding with state grants
32
Q

why is short money still unfair?

A

favours larger parties, based on how many seats party has

33
Q

what are the types of parties in the UK?

A

mainstream parties
minority/niche parties
single issue parties

34
Q

what are the 3 main mainstream parties?

A

Labour
conservatives
lib dems

35
Q

what type of party falls under minority/niche parties?

A

nationalist parties - nurture shared cultural identity
some campaign for independence

British National Party
SNP

36
Q

what do single issue parties campaign for?

A

some offer programme rooted in particular ideological perspective
specific issue or policy
blur boundary between parties + PGs

37
Q

what are the different types of party systems?

A

dominant party system
multiparty system
single party system
two party system

38
Q

what is a dominant party system?

A

number of parties exist but only one holds gov power

39
Q

what is a multiparty system?

A

many parties compete for power + gov consists of many coalitions of combinations of parties

40
Q

what is a single party system?

A

one party dominates, bans all other parties, total control over candidates at elections

41
Q

what is a two party system?

A

2 fairly equally matched parties compete for power, other parties have little chance of breaking duopoly

42
Q

what is a political spectrum?

A

device by which different political standpoints can be mapped, demonstrates ideological positions in relation to eachother

43
Q

what is consensus politics?

A

where there is widespread agreement between parties and groups on key political issues

44
Q

what is adversary politics?

A

when there are deep political differences between major parties and within parties, ideological conflicts

45
Q

how much have Labour and Conservatives gotten from donations during the election campaign so far?

A

Labour - £4.4 million
Tories - £290,000

politics (10 decks)

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