The British Party System

Question 1

What was the state of the party system Pre-WW1 (1880s to 1914)?

Answer 1

• Two party: Dominance of Liberals and Conservatives/Unionists
• Liberal leaders: William Gladstone, Joseph Chamberlin, David Lloyd George
• ‘The strange death of Liberal England’
• Conservatives from 1830s (Tory Party)
• Ulster Unionists (Carson), Irish Parliamentary Party (Butt, Parnell)
• Steady rise of Labour Party influence through trade unions

Question 2

What was the state of the party system Between the Wars (1914 to 1939)?

Answer 2

• Still two party, but Liberals replaced by Labour, Conservatives vs Labour
• Labour won government in 1924, Ramsay MacDonald PM
• Labour split in 1929 over Great Depression: Coalition government through 1930s
• MacDonald expelled from Labour: lasting schism
• Dominance of Conservatives during 1930s

Question 3

What was the state of the party system Postwar 1 (1945 - 1974)?

Answer 3

• Two party: Conservatives and Labour: Ideal period of two party system
• Liberal by-election wins, but no serious representation
• Broad Keynesian economic consensus in policy making
• 1967 devaluation of the pound
• Increasing industrial unrest, ‘three days week’ in 1974
• IMF crisis 1976

Question 4

What has been the state of the party system Postwar 2 (1974 - present)?

Answer 4

• Fragmentation (but not fully reflected in the House of Commons)
• De facto multiparty system
• Ulster Unionists slips from British Conservatives
• ‘Entryism’ within Labour
  
  • Far left members joining the Labour party
• Formation of the Social Democratic Party (1981)
• SDP-Liberal Alliance (1983-87), then Liberal-Democrats (1988-)
• Breakdown of postwar Keynesian economic consensus
• Devolution in Scotland and Wales (1998): the rise of nationalism

Question 5

What is the British electoral system?

Answer 5

• First past the post, majoritarian
  
  • Used since democratisation
  • Single member constituents (since 1920s)
  • Voluntary voting

Question 6

What has been the outcome of the British electoral system?

Answer 6

• Sustains the two party system
• Inhibits a ‘break through’ by a minor party
• Disadvantages parties that lack geographical concentration in their vote
• Tactical/instrumental voting
  
  • Voting so another party doesn’t win, not for your preference
  • 10-15%

Question 7

What is the classic story of British voting behaviour?

Answer 7

• ‘Class is the basis of British party politics; all else is embellishment and detail’ (Pulzer)
• Peak of class-based politics in the 1950s, two ideal types:
  
  • Working class
    
    • Manual or semi-skilled occuption
    • Trade union, public housing
    • Working class identification
  • Middle class
    
    • Non-manual or professional
    • Home owner
    • Middle class identification

Question 8

What has changed from the classic story of British voting behaviour?

Answer 8

• Complexity of class structure
  
  • Supervision in the workplace (‘command’)
  • Rise of the public sector (public vs private)
  • Rise of the self-employed (owner vs worker)
• Economic divisions being replaced by cultural divisions
  
  • Expansion of tertiary educaiton
  • Community, globalisation vs cultural homogenity
  • Rise of finance/services in place of manufacturing/industry
  • Privatisation, public sector housing

Question 9

What is class dealignment reflected in?

Answer 9

• Weakening of association between class and vote
• Embourgeoisement and social mobility
• Rise of new cleavages, gender, ethnicity
• Cognitive mobilisation: issue and valence voting

Question 10

What are party strategies regarding class dealignment?

Answer 10

• As class divisions weaken, parties have an incentive to move to the centre
• Rise of Blair and New Labour
• Blair and ‘Mondeo Man’: ‘his instincts were to get on in life and he thought our instincts were to stop him’

Question 11

What concepts define UKIP?

Answer 11

• Anti-Politics and Disenchantment
  
  • Historically low levels of trust in politicans
• Populism
  
  • ‘Pure people’ vs ‘corrupt elite’
  • Politics should be an expression of the general will of the people

Question 12

What issues define UKIP?

Answer 12

• Immigration
• Economy
• Crime
• Europe
• Belief in corruption of government

Question 13

Who are UKIP voters?

Answer 13

• White
• 55+
• English
• male
• Working class/Unemlpoyed
• Lower Education
• “Left Behinds” - Alienated by progressive politics, non-‘compassionate’ conservativess