Political Parties Flashcards
Describe how the rational theory can be used to compare election campaigns in the US and UK regarding marginal seats/states.
US: - Rational for parties/candidates to focus campaign energy on small states - e.g. Wisconsin and Michigan in 2016 and Georgia in 2020.
UK: - Also rational to focus on marginal seats - e.g. 67 seats were won with a majority of <5% in 2019
Outline how the rational theory may be used to compare election campaigns in the US and UK with regards to targeting certain kinds of voter.
US: - rational to tailor methodology to certain voters e.g. AOC played popular game ‘Among Us’ to appeal to younger voters - higher turnout amongst young voters.
UK: - rational to campaign for those unlikely to vote for the party - e.g. Kier Starmer writing in the Daily Mail is time better spent than writing in the Guardian.
Describe how the rational theory may be used to compare election campaign in the US and UK regarding valence issues.
US: - Rational to address topical ‘valence’ issues - e.g. Immigration in 2016 - “We will build a wall and make Mexico pay for the wall’.
UK: - Brexit and immigration were also large issues in 2016 - e.g. Nigel Farage’s controversial ‘breaking point’ poster.
How can the rational theory be used to compare campaign finance in the US and UK regarding donors?
US: - a greater rationale to sponsor candidates in US - e.g. Billionaires Sheldon Adelson and George Soros are frequent donors.
UK: - though wealthy donors do exist - e.g. Lubov Chernukhin donated £160,000 in 2014 to play tennis with Johnson and Cameron - largest female donor of the Con. party - £1.8 million (as of 2022).
Describe how the rational theory could be used to study campaign finance in the US and UK with regards to marginal seats.
US: - Rational to target spending in marginal states/districts - e.g. In 2020, Senate run-off elections in Georgia cost $510 million dollars - spent to swing voters off the fence.
UK: - Marginal seats are regularly targeted for campaign spending - in 2019, 67 seats had been won by a majority of less than 5%.
Outline how rational theory can be used to compare campaign finance in the US and UK with regards to iron-triangles/allegiances.
US: - Rational to form co-dependencies - e.g. Drug companies - House Energy Subcommittee chair Anna Eshoo received 100s of 1000s of dollars from pharmaceutical companies in 2020.
UK: - Rational for parties to form allegiances with pressure groups/trade unions - e.g. Labour and Unite - 1.4 million members in Unite - pays £1 million annual affiliation fee.
