Theories Flashcards
Social Capital Theory
People get involved in democracy and learn about it so they understand more about it. People being more informed is good for democracy so they can make more informed choices for example when voting.
Pluralist Theory
many groups have a say in a democracy leading to greater representation representing all parts of society with government listening to people’s demands.
Elitist Theory
Power is dominated by a small group of people. Interest Groups exaggerate this power inequality by giving them more power.
Iron Law of Oligarchy - Party Democratic. This is a more relevant theory
Iron Law of oligarchy: States that the organisation of political parties - even those formally committed to democracy - becomes dominated by a ruling elite.
Media - Agenda Setting Theory
Inducing Theory
Agenda Setting - Media tells politicians what issues to think about.
Inducing - The Media tells politicians what to think
Media - Framing Theory
The media’s portrayal of an issue can influence public opinion
Hostile Media Effect
Media is reporting so many negative stories that people always see the negative side of the world.
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Think immigration or decision making
Mediamalaise
What the media mainly says the people believe
Reinforcement Theory - Media
Media can influence someone who is slightly in favour of their point of view in an issue to believe their point of view even more as people often choose media they agree with leading to an echo chamber effect making their opinion even stronger.
Voter Behaviour- Party Identification Theory
An individual phycological/identification with a party or it’s leader based off it’s image rather than policy making people naturally gravitate towards a party.
Family ties is often a cause of this loyalty.
Rational Choice
Choosing party based off policy rather than anything else. Personal
Sociological Model
Voter Behaviour is limited to group membership so voting tends to reflect the social/economic output of the party, most significant groups are class, age and gender.
