Section C's Unit 2 Flashcards
To what extent is the media the biggest factor impacting voting behaviour?
YES
The Press
- Thatcher- downward- poll tax
- Major- Spitting Image
- MacMillian- Private Eye
- Newspapers ridiculing Neil Kinnock: ‘It’s the Sun Wot Won It’
- Blair- ‘It’s the Sun what Swung it’
- Corbyn- still 9.6%
Social Media
- 2017- Lab activists used Facebook, Twitter, Hashtags etc. to spread Labour’s message
- Momentum: Daddy, Why do you hate me? Watched 5.4 million times in 2 days
- Corbyn’s Facebook followers 3x May’s
Opinion polls
- 1992 op. suggested support for Lab growing- encouraged Cons supporters to vote
- 2015: predicted close race between Cons+Lab–> Cons warned about Lab-SNP coalition - suprise victory for Cons
- 2017: predicted big Cons lead over Lab- less urgency- Lab increased vote share
Leadership:
- Blair- young
- Thatcher- strong- Falklands- ‘this lady is not for turning’
- Edward Heath
- Harold MacMillian
Manifesto
- Lab- didn’t commit to nuclear (1987)
- Cons ‘dementia tax’, while Lab abolish tuition fees
OR
Age
- 2017- 30 y/o 2x more likely to vote Lab, 70 y/o opposite
- 2017 GE, 55% of those who owned property voted Conservative, while only 30% Lab
- Social renter, only 26% voted Conservative, while 57% voted Labour
—- 65% 16-24 y/o renting
Do political parties promote democracy?
YES
Representation
- Represent key political beliefs of public who vote them and give them a mandate
- e.g.
Create policy
- Formulate policy
- Must be popular (at least partly) with electorate [to ensure re-election]
- Blair- Const Reform- dev. in response to growing calls
- Attlee- Welfare State after WW2
Stable government
- FPTP- Mainstream parties- no extremists– France= Marine Le Pen, National Front
- Parties in general- no dictators- Putin
Lack of representation
- Might only have 30-40% of electorate’s approval–> EU- only 37% of electorate
- Also ‘catch-all policies’
Policy failures
- Tend to be more reactive (reacting to the public’s views) rather than proactive in forming policy
- e.g.
To what extent has the UK experienced partisan de-alignment?
YES
Issue based voting
- 2016- UKIP- 12.6%
- 2019- Greens- 850,000
Change in class voting
- Corbyn- increase AB
- May- increase DE
- Enoch Powell’s ‘River of the Blood’ speech- Cons won trad Lab seats
- Thatcher- Cardiff- trad Lab
Decline in party membership
- Fell by over 65% from 1983 (4 per cent of the electorate) to 2005 (1.3 per cent)
- Cons: 1953- 2.8m –> 180,000 (2019)
Short-term revival in party membership
- Since 2013
- SNP: 2013- 25,000 –> 125,000 (2019)
- Greens: 2013- 14,000 –> 49,000
(Green, SNP sub for mainstream parties)
Age causing partisanship
- People who are older, more nationalistic more supportive of conservative party
- Someone over 70 3x more likely to vote Cons, while someone under the age of 30 3x more likely to do the opposite–> younger people more socialist, older more right-wing
- 2017 GE, 55% of those who owned property voted Conservative, while only 30% Lab
- Social renter, only 26% voted Conservative, while 57% voted Labour
‘Party leaders are the crucial factor determining the success of political parties’
YES
Image
- Blair- young
- Thatcher- strong- Falklands- ‘this lady’s not for turning’
- Cameron- ‘heir to Blair’
Unity
- Thatcher- One-nation Cons + Thatcherites
- May- Brexiteers + Remainers (but didn’t work)
- Corbyn- pre-New Labour policies
- Lib Dems under Clegg- reduce tax, const. reform etc.
- Cameron tried to divert Cons party away from controversial issues like Brexit
Electoral system
Media
- Major- Spitting Image
- Macmillian- Private Eye
- Neil Kinnock- ‘It’s the Sun Wot Won It’
- Blair- It’s the Sun Wot Swung It
Funding
Should FPTP be abolished
NOT:
No extremism:
- 2019- Sinn Fein=7, Plaid=4, DUP= 8, Cons + Lab= 76%
- France- National Front, Marine Le Pene
- Germany- Alternative for Germany (AfD)- 83 seats
Lack of a majority:
- Cons- maj- 43.6% of vote
- 1997 Labour- 179, 43%
MP-Constituency link:
- FPTP takes place in constituencies
- Recall of MPs Act
- Zac Goldsmith
- RoMA 2015- 18% signed petition to remove Christopher Davies
Disproportionate:
- 2010: Libs: 23% vote, 8% sea
- 2015: UKIP: 12.6%, 0.2%
- 2019, Cons seat ↑ by 46, only 1.2% vote ↑
- IPPR: 2010 GE decided in 111 constituencies- 1.6%
Strong government:
- Cameron-Clegg- first coalition in 70 years
- Blair- 179- const reform…
Is AMS the best electoral system?
NO:
Unlikely single party government
- 2007: Lab/Plaid
- SNP- diff to get budget 2017/18 approved- Greens- more money to councils
- 2021 Senedd- no maj
Proportional
- Glasgow (2021)- Lab 4 reg. seats
- 2021: Cons 24%, 24% MSPs
Complexity
- Aberdeenshire East- regional MSP Maggie Chapman or local MSP Gillian Martin
- Brian Wilson- “waste of space”
Greater representation
- 2011- Lab: 26%, 28% seat
- 2021- Cons 25%, 26% seat
- Plaid- 13 seats
Party control
- Agree/not
- More extremist:
— Independent Green Voice= 2,000 votes in Glasgow (2021)
To what extent do referendums enhance democracy
DO:
Direct Democracy
- Ireland- Gay marriage- 62%
- EU 72.2%
- Good Friday- 81%
Complexity
- Johnson- £450 m
- Scot- after Commonwealth
Higher turnout
- EU- 72.2%- 64% 18-24 year olds
- GF- 81%
- Scot Ref- 84.6%- 100,000 16-17 voted- 97% vote again
- Lower: 2011 Wales- 35%
Tyranny of majority
- 1997 referendum to create Welsh Assembly= 50.3% yes + 49.7% no. Turnout= 50.1%
- UN Special Rapporteur on Racism- ‘Brexit related rise of intolerance’
Greater public awareness
- 3/4 Scots
- EU- 38 m interactions (March-June 2016)
(Clement Attlee: they are “the devices of demagogues and dictators’)
(Political/valence issues have the biggest impact on voting behaviour)
(YES:
Leadership
- Blair- young
- Thatcher- strong- Falklands- ‘this lady is not for turning’
- Edward Heath
- Harold MacMillian
Media
- Thatcher- downward- poll tax
- Major- Spitting Image
- MacMillian- Private Eye
- Newspapers ridiculing Neil Kinnock: ‘It’s the Sun Wot Won It’
- Blair- ‘It’s the Sun what Swung it’
- Corbyn- still 9.6%
Manifesto
- Lab- didn’t commit to nuclear (1987)
- Cons ‘dementia tax’, while Lab abolish tuition fees
Age
- 2017- 30 y/o 2x more likely to vote Lab, 70 y/o opposite
- 2017 GE, 55% of those who owned property voted Conservative, while only 30% Lab
- Social renter, only 26% voted Conservative, while 57% voted Labour
—- 65% 16-24 y/o renting
Issue-based voting
- UKIP- 12.6%- fear of immigration
- 2017- immigration- why Cons won
- Green- 850,000 votes in 2019 GE)
‘Social movements are effective in creating social change’. Discuss.
Disenfranchised voters
- UCL’s Constitution Unit Poll- 77%
- Cons have maj- 43.6%
- 1997- Lab- 179- 43% vote
Small minority
- Impose will on maj
- 3.5% rule
Off agenda issues
- WSPU
- 2013- ‘March Against Monsanto’
Counter-productive
- 2022- Insulate Britain glued themselves to ground
- 2021- Ed Miliband blasts ‘counterproductive’ Insulate Britain protests ahead of COP26
- Just Stop Oil activists throw soup at Van Gogh painting
Moral duty
- Kronlind and others- 4 female peace campaigners acquitted after causing £1.5 million damage to a Hawk fighter jet- argued wanted to protect civilians in East Timor, found not guilty
- Greenpeace in 2007 climbed a power station chimney and when prosecuted, argued they were trying to prevent the damage of property across the world as a result of climate change. Jury cleared them of any charge
- Toby Olditch and Philip Pritchard also acquitted
Should political parties be state funded?
YES
Funded by wealthy donors
- Cash for honours (wealth donors given Lab £5 million awarded for peerages)
- Eccleston- Lab exempted F1 from tobacco advertising ban
- Lubov Chernukin- cons- £2.1 million
- Paul Gelley- cons £5 million
Taxpayers shouldn’t have to fund parties they oppose
- 2019- Brexit party 2% of vote
-2019- Cons= 43.6%, Lab= 32.1%, Libs= 11.5%
(Cons+Lib= 76% vote)
- 2015- Greens had 3.8% vote
- 2005- If did do state funding, SNP would have £1.5 million
MPs can focus on representing constituents
- Theresa May- £2.5 million
- Boris Johnson- £1 million
- 2019- Steve Brine joined 3 firms, £60,000
- Cons auctioned shopping with Theresa May, tea with Boris Johnson + £10,000 ‘iron man’s race’ with Iain Duncan Smith to raise funds
Become isolated from real world issues if they’re denied access from interest groups
- Greenpeace- 2023- UN Global Ocean Treaty agreed
- CBI- Cons adopted CBI proposals in its clean growth strategy
- Lab- TU- received £1.5 million (2017) from UNITE
Could compete on equal footing
- 2019 donations: Cons= £19.4m, Lab= £5.4m, Lib= £1.3m
- 2017- more than 1/2 of £40m donations given to Cons. Greens= £175,000, Plaid= £5,300
- Cranborne money 2021/22: Lab= £600,000, Libs= £300,000 (approx.)
Is the UK suffering from a participation crisis?
NO
Rising voter participation
- 2001- 59%, 2017- 69%
- 1973- 11 ref.
- Good friday- 81%, Scot Ref- 84.6%, EU 72.2%
Revival in party membership
- Since 2013
- SNP: 2013- 25,000 –> 125,000 (2019)
- Greens: 2013- 14,000 –> 49,000
(Green, SNP sub for mainstream parties)
Other forms of participation
- Groups + organisations
- 2013: Passionate Collaboration study- 139 environmental groups collectively had membership of 4.5 million
- E-petition- have another EU ref- 4.2m votes
Low voter turnout
- 2019- 67% (still below 1992 levels)
- AV ref 2011- 42%
- 2011 Welsh dev ref- 35%
Decline in party membership
- (more long-term)
- Cons: 1953- 2.8m –> 180,000 (2019)
- Partisan de-alignment - Corbyn= increased AB votes, May increased DE votes
Enoch Powell’s ‘River of the Blood’ speech 1968- Cons won trad Lab seats
Should the UK adopt a Bill of Rights?
BoR= formal dec. of legal + civil rights of the citizens of any state
YES:
Clarity
- 2018 poll= 43% of Britons knowing ‘little or nothing at all’ about their rights
Difficulty defining rights:
- Classic liberals- rights universal
- Cons- 4.9- ‘rights should be given to everyone at all times’
- Raab
Works well in America:
- 73% of Americans named freedom of speech as their First Amendment, up from 48% in 2017
- 14% named right to petition the government
- Egbert v Boule (ongoing case) where Robert Boule sued a federal agent for violating the 1st amendment
Might not work for UK:
- UK= 67 m, USA= 330 m
- Had to fight for rights
Rights protection
- JR- 4.6%, BJ- 2.2%
- 1% HRA
- Govt can introduce retrospective leg- R(Reilly)
