state funding Flashcards
cheap and addresses participation crisis
-era of mass membership of parties is over, Labour only has around 450,000 and is the biggest party in the nation
-mainstream parties that exercise power are increasingly in control of small number of hardliners who hold more right of left wing views than the public they represent
-party funding would mean parties were no longer reliant on ‘fringe’ elements of society
cheap evaluation
-Measures that discourage citizens from taking the
responsibility of joining a political party could be seen as damaging to democracy currently, parties are rewarded for attracting large numbers of members with a significant degree of finance. This could
be viewed as a highly democratic outcome.
-More should be done to encourage citizens to join political parties, rather than passing the responsibility of funding them to the state (weakening democratic
institutions like Labour in the process).
elections will concern issues not finance
-reduce financial advantage of bigger parties and allow smaller parties to compete more fairly
-critics of the current system say that the current system is sustained by finance from sectors of society which are not representative of Britain
-2019 election, tories spent £16.5mil but money mainly came from wealthy business owners with their own interests
-elections would become more competitive, no longer a choice of the big two
issues not finance evaluation
-arguably minor parties lose elections not because of
finance, but because they are socially unrepresentative and also due to
the FPTP electoral system
end of corruption
-end of opportunity for corrupt donations,at present donations are a corrupt exchange for policy influence
-donations less than £7,500 do not have to be declared publicly meaning powerful individuals can fund parties without the public ever knowing
-corruption sustains elitism which is anti-democratic,meaning parties end up furthering the interest of the wealthy instead of the nation
-Blair was formally investigated during the cash for peerages scandal
corruption evaluation
Corruption is endemic in all societies and a state
(only)funded system would become corrupt too.
unethical use of taxpayers money
-taxpayers may object to funding private organisations,the idea of ones taxes funding a party they are ideologically opposed to seems unethical
-to many the short money and electoral commission grant is already too much
-small ‘c’ conservatives note that parties are organically funded by unions, the financial elite etc.
-Labour party grew organically without highly regulated state funding
taxpayers money evaluation
Using taxpayers’ money to ensure strong institutions in our representative democracy is not unethical, but absolutely essential to maintaining democracy, free from widespread corruption.
