Types of political systems Flashcards
Examples of UK Mainstream parties?
Labour, Conservates, Lib-dems
What is a Nationalist Party?
-Nurture the shared cultural identity and language of a certain geographical area
(UKIP, BNP, Plaid Cymru
What is a Single issue party? Examples?
- Policies rooted in a political ideological perspective
- Green party
What do political parties do? (4)
- To contest elections with a view to securing control of government
- Offer members an input in key decisions
- Open membership structures
- Offer a broad portfolio of policies
What is a one- party system?Examples (2)?
- One party dominates, bans other parties. Enjoys a monopoly of power
- Exercises total control
- Nazi germany
- North Korea
What is a dominant party system? Examples?
- Number of parties but only one is likely to achieve absolute majority and hold government power
- Japan under the Liberal Democratic Party 1955-1993
- African National Congress
What is a multiparty system (4 points)? (examples x3)
- Many parties compete for power
- Common in european countries
- coalitions
- eg. italy 1945-1993 , finland, belgium
- not clear between government and opposition
- common where systems of proportional representation are present
What is a Two party system?
2 fairly equally parties compete for power at elections and others have little realistic chance of breaking their duopoly
-common in countries with FPTP systems
In 2010 how many voters backed the ‘big two’?
34.9%
What 5 main roles do political parties perform?
- Presenting Representation
- Facilitating political Partcipation
- Engaging in political recruitment
- Formulating policy
- Providing stable government
What are the 4 advantages of a two party system?
- Promotes effective, stable, and strong government
- Simplifies voter choice
- Goverment is clearly accountable for the electorate
- Moderation is encouraged
What are the 3 disadvantages of a two party system?
- It restricts voter choice
- Far from promoting moderation, it can sometimes be characterised by adversary politics.
- Growing dissatisfaction with the performance of the main parties
what is an example of a ‘predominant party system’?
The conservatives won four consecutive elections followed by labour winning three consecutive elections.
What is an example of a ‘two-and-and-half party system’?
The electoral rise of the Lib-Dems surged at a 19.3% of the vote resulting in the first post war ‘hung’ parliament.
In 1951 what was the percentage of votes and seats were achieved by the labour and conservative party?
- 6% if votes
96. 8% of seats
What 6 conditions have helped to create and sustain the British two-party system?
- The natural tendency to be ‘for’ or ‘against’ on issues (either labour or conservative)
- The electoral system (FPTP)
- ‘catch all’ parties aim to win back sections of the electorate
- Traditional absence of ethnic, religious differences within the population
- Problem faced by other parties (lack of finance, no identity)
deffintion of a party system
The stable pattern of political parties that normally compete in national elections and the way in which they interact with one another
What are the 4 arguments in support of UK being a 2 party system?
1) Labour and Conservatives are the only parties that have a realistic chance of forming a government in the near future or being the senior partner in a coalition
2) Even in 2010 the Labour and Conservatives secured 65.1% of the popular vote and 87% seats contested
3) The Lib-Dems are still a long way behind 2nd party
4) Good deal on stability in elections. Only 18% of seats changed hands in 2010
What are the 5 arguments in support of UK not being a 2 party system?
1) The UK is a dominant party system
2) in 2010, 34.9% of voters backed other parties
3) Though the liberal democrats are a third party, they are often second to Labour in the north and west and to the Conservatives in the south and east
4) Any party that could mobilise non-voters (34.9% in 2010) could win the election
Name an example of a dominant party system in another country
and
Which UK party could be seen as a dominant party?
Japan under the Liberal Democrat party 1955-93
- Conservative party after election victories in 1979, 1983,1987,1992
- Labour dominance 1997, 2001,2005
What is the origin of UK party systems?
1832 Great Reform Act
- This meant that before 1832, parties didn’t act as a mass membership organisation with formal structures
- Parties existed as like minded individuals within the legislature bound by friendship or family ties
Example of a multi-party system
Italy 1945-1993
What % of seats changed hands in the 2010 general election?
18%
in 2010 what percentage of votes backed Labour and Conservative party?
65.1%
What does a party system require? and what does it refer to?
usually requires the interaction of several parties. The term refers to the network of relationships between parties that determines how the political system functions
What is party competition?
In a bid to attain office, parties compete with each other over their aims, ideas and policies in an electoral contest each offering a different vision of the future. Elections are held to determine the next party which will form an administration
What is a dominant party system?
These exist in a country where there is free competition between parties but only one party is likely to achieve an absolute majority of the votes cast
Before black majority rule what was an example of a dominant party system?
the Nationalist party in South Africa
In what decade did commentators note that Britain had a one party dominance in a traditionally two party system?
1980’s
What is a one party system mostly associated with?
with an authoritarian regime in which a single party enjoys a monopoly of power
What is governance like under the multiparty system?
there is not usually a distinction between government and opposition as many of the broadly centrist parties tend to be members of most administrations
What is a two party system?
In this system there are two major parties each of which has a strong chance of winning a majority of seats in the legislature and winning political power.
Where is there commonly a two party system?
where FPTP electoral systems are used.
Since what year has Conservative and Labour been the dominant parties?
1930’s
In 1951 what % of votes and seats did the two party system win?
votes-98.6%
seats-96.8%
In 2005 how many seats did both Conservative and Labour win together?
554
In 2005 how many seats did the Lib Dems win in the house of commons?
62 seats
What 6 reasons help to create and sustain the British 2 party system?
1) Natural tendency for ‘for’ or ‘against’
2) The electoral system
3) catch all parties
4) Government or opposition
5) Absence of ethnic, religious or sectional differences in the population
6) Problems faced by third parties
In a two party system, how is moderation encouraged?
If the opposition know that its turn will come this encourages it to be constructive and pose as an alternative government. There is therefore an incentive for both parties to try and hold the middle ground
Why is it a disadvantage that the two party system restricts voter choice?
This is because many voters have seemed to be increasingly disenchanted with Labour and the Conservatives as their combined levels of voter support has declined over the years earning only 563 seats
How many seats to conservatives and labour win in 2015 general election?
563
