Should political parties receive state funding Flashcards
Paragraph one:
P: If political parties are not funded by taxpayers, they will be funded by wealthy individuals and interest groups
E: Bernie Ecclestone’s £1 million donation to the labour party in 1997 may have prompted the subsequent delay in the introduction of the ban of tobaco in formula one advertising
E: This emphasises the necessity of state funding for political parties as any donations by private donors means that political decisions become subjected to the influence of monetary pressures
L: State funding reduces the likelihood of political decisions being swayed by private donors, this in turn creates authentic policies that appease only the electorate
CP: Politicians can still be subject to the influence of money in other factors such as pressure groups and lobbyists
E: Stonewall LGBTQ rights led to policy change (pressure groups) and lobbyists such as the neo-liberal institute of economic affairs influence Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwaterteng’s policies on deregulation
Paragraph two:
P: It would create an equal financial footing for parties as funding would be based entirely on membership or electoral performance
E: a report from the electoral commissions in 2021 found that for the conservative and unionist party had £4,744,114 (excluding public funds) the labour party had £5,054,462 (excluding public funds) and the lib dems had £966,861 (excluding public funds) Green party £122,202
E: This shows the financial disparity between political parties as a consequence of private donations and the given ‘power and influence of these parties’
L: Once again this emphasises this the importance of state funding which is that it would reduce the unfair advantage given by larger donations as exemplified by the difference in donation size
CP: Although it creates equal financial footing this does not entail equal voter turnout. FPTP system means that despite equal financial footing, dependent on a party’s geographical base, individuals may still receive the same amount of seats they always had
Paragraph three:
ith public funding the State can encourage or demand changes in for example how many women candidates a party fields.In the same way as private donations can come with demands on party or candidate behaviour, the State can use public funds to level the playing field and encourage (or force) political parties to undertake reforms, hold internal elections or field a certain number of women candidates, youth or persons from an ethnic minority on their ballots.
NO - reform of party funding may not increase rep, under the current system, people can subscribe to parties and pay fees to the parties they want. also, parties are increasing their descriptive representation, over half of Labour MPs are women, almost 10% of HoC are BAME - granted much work to be done.
