Simple and Complex Voting Models

Question 1

Political analysts called ____________ attempt to explain voting behaviour by constructing theoretical models

Answer 1

psephologists

Question 2

What are the 2 simple voting models?

Answer 2

• The Primacy Model

- The Recency Model

Question 3

What is the Primary model?

Answer 3

this suggests that long-term factors, such as class, are more important than short-term factors in deciding elections

Question 4

What does the primacy model suggest in electoral behaviour?

Answer 4

stability as opposed to volatility

Question 5

What is the Recency model?

Answer 5

holds that voting patterns are more volatile and that processes such as embourgeoisement have led to class and partisan dealignment  
-believe short term faces are much more important

Question 6

according to the recency model, how many voters are thought to make up their minds in the last month of the general election campaign?

Answer 6

10 million

Question 7

What is the sociological theory?

Answer 7

peoples social characteristics influence their participation in politics

Question 8

What factors influence people according to the sociological theory? (4)

Answer 8

gender, social class, ethnicity, occupation

Question 9

What did Pulzer say in 1967?

Answer 9

“class is the basis of British politics; all else is embellishment and detail

Question 10

As class mobility has increased what has been undermined ? (sociological theory)

Answer 10

the idea that everyone in a particular class behaved in the same way

Question 11

What is the party identification theory?

Answer 11

this theory focuses on political socialisation and how political attitudes and behaviour are influenced via the process of growing up in settings like their families and schools

Question 12

Under the party identification system, what is the psychological attachment to parties and a sense of identity referred to?

Answer 12

partisan alignment

Question 13

At a time of partisan alignment under the party identification theory, what was voting believed to be?

Answer 13

a long-term manifestation of strongly held beliefs and loyalties

Question 14

What change undermines the party identification model?

Answer 14

partisan dealignment

Question 15

What did Clarke et al point out (under the party identification theory)?

Answer 15

that the ‘very strong’ identification levels with Labour or the Conservatives sampled in 1964 (45%) had fallen to 21% by 1979 and 13% by 2001

Question 16

in the 1950’s what percentage of voters voted for either the Labour or the Conservatives?

Answer 16

over 90%

Question 17

What percentage of voters voted for the Labour or Conservative party in the 2010 general election?

Answer 17

65.1%

Question 18

What percentage did those who strongly identified with either party drop between 1964-2001?

Answer 18

45%-13%

Question 19

What is the process known as that weakens party ties?

Answer 19

partisan dealignment

Question 20

What is the rational choice theory?

Answer 20

This model sees voters as making considered, rational judgement on the basis of policies and issues and/or the relative attributes of the various party leaders

Question 21

Under the rational choice theory how are voters likely to make their decision ? (2)

Answer 21

• Using retrospective judgment, based on past performance

- based on perception of how a given party might do if elected, prosperous voting

Question 22

In the 1980s’s what did the the emphasis of psychological and sociological approaches shift to ?

Answer 22

shifted to the role of the individual in making a rational judgement acting in a calculated and deliberate way

Question 23

According to Himmelweit et al 1981 what did they a rational judgement may be based on? (2)

Answer 23

• based on past performance of a particular administration

- related to the prospects of the individual and his/her family

Question 24

What idea was advanced by Sanders in 1996 regarding the consumerist approach of rational choice theory?

Answer 24

that the state of the economy and the voters view of how it was impacting on their lives was very important in helping people decide how to exercise their vote

Question 25

Why are those under the rational choice theory compared to consumers?

Answer 25

They compare products and make their decisions according to cost, quality and usefulness

Question 26

psephologists recognised voting was becoming a more instrumental act in the rational choice theory, why?

Answer 26

people were using it as a means by which to achieve their goals

Question 27

Why have studies cast in the 1980/90’s cast doubt on the rationality of choice which voters make ?

Answer 27

Voters may be exposed to biased presentation of news and current affairs via the media, and so then their judgements may be affected by any misleading impression that they receive

Question 28

Under the rational choice model, what is issue voting commonly subdivided into?

Answer 28

‘spatial’ and ‘valence’

Question 29

What does the spatial mode (apart of the rational choice theory ) suggest?

Answer 29

that parties are more likely to attract voters if they adopt a median point on the political spectrum to avoid alienating too many potential supporters

Question 30

What does the valence model (apart of the rational choice theory) suggest ?

Answer 30

that a party’s chances of electoral success will depend upon its ability to convince voters that it can deliver on the key issues (national security, economic prosperity and law and order)

Question 31

The issues that have particular salience at the time of the election will have the biggest impact on voting behaviour .
What is salience?

Answer 31

relevance

Question 32

At the 2010 general election, what did the Conservative party and Labour party focus on to gain support from rational thinkers?

Answer 32

they focused on Labours handling of the economy

Labour focused on Conservatives policy to make significant cutes in public services

Question 33

Why could Labours move to focus on threats posed by conservative plans to make significant cutes in public services be seen as a retrospective approach apart of the rational choice theory ?

Answer 33

because it sought to remind voters of their experience under the Conservative administrations of the 1980’s/90’s

Question 34

in the 2010 general election what did the Conservatives and Lib-Dems focus on?

Answer 34

a ‘time for a change ‘

Question 35

What is the Dominant ideology theory?

Answer 35

that the elites influence in the media and business orchestrate elections to its advantage
(Rupert Murdoch)

Question 36

What theory did Dunleavy and Husbands concur with in 1985?

Answer 36

the Dominant Ideology theory

Question 37

What did Dunleavy and Husbands 1985 agree?

Answer 37

that individual choices are influenced by media misrepresentation

Question 38

What does the dominant ideology theory suggest happens to political communication due to media?

Answer 38

that newspapers and televisions distort political communication

Question 39

How is political communication distorted under the dominant ideology theory ?

Answer 39

they determine the agenda for dealt and consciously or unconsciously provide a partial coverage of the news

Question 40

Why are voters more likely to be swayed by what they hear, see and read?

Answer 40

as there is absence of traditional factors such as class and party loyalties

Question 41

in 2005 What percentage of election news coverage was dedicated to the discussion of issues?

Answer 41

62%

Question 42

In 2010, what percentage of bulletins analysed on the state of the economy?

Answer 42

74%

Question 43

in the 2010 general election how many times was Gordon Brown citied in news broadcasts?

Answer 43

386

Question 44

In 2010 what percentage of references were about David Cameron in the Conservatives’ tally?

Answer 44

74%