voting behaviour

Question 1

voting behaviour can be separated into _ factors

Answer 1

3

Question 2

the 3 factors that VB can be separated into are

Answer 2

social factors
political context
media

Question 3

give examples of social factors

Answer 3

class
region
age
ethnicity
education
gender

Question 4

give examples of political context

Answer 4

governing competence
leadership
campaigns
issues

Question 5

give examples of media

Answer 5

opinion polls
TV
social media

Question 6

what is partisan dealignment

Answer 6

described the way in which voters since the 1970’s have abandoned traditional class based party loyalties and instead vote based on their impressions of the governments competence + the salience of specific issues

Question 7

in ____ class was important in determining the result of the election as labour won ___% of __ voters and the conservatives won __% of __ voters

Answer 7

1964
64% of DE voters
78% of AB voters

Question 8

an example of partisan dealignment in the 1970 election is

Answer 8

many WC labour supporters chose to vote conservative in 1970 election as Enoch Powells ‘rivers of blood’ speech (1968) caused significant numbers of white WC to believe conserv would have better immigration control

Question 9

what was Enoch Powells speech called and when was it

Answer 9

1968
‘rivers of blood’

Question 10

what is an example of when a party leader was able to broaden their party’s appeal (leadership)

Answer 10

Thatcher 1979 broaden party support beyond core supporters with ‘right to buy’ campaign

Question 11

what was Thatchers ‘right to buy’ campaign

Answer 11

let you buy your council property

Question 12

social class has declined in importance because …..

Answer 12

people now vote in regards to issues rather than class + people also consider the competence of the government

Question 13

give a prime example of issue based voting

Answer 13

2017 , AB voters voted labour because conservs seen as pro Brexit

Question 14

expand on the social factor region

Answer 14

• there is a north - south divide in UK voting behaviour
• urban/ rural divide lab does better in large cities conserv does better in rural areas
• people in urban environment see effect of poverty so likely to support high taxes

Question 15

recent elections show the declining importance of regional voting as ….

Answer 15

voters tend to cast their vote based on issues rather than regional loyalties

Question 16

give examples of people voting based on issues rather than region

Answer 16

2019 Corbyn surrounded by allegations/detached from core supporters conservs took 5 key constituencies in the North East including Tony Blairs former sedgefield seat,

Question 17

why is conservative support weak in London

Answer 17

city largely voted remain in 2016
cost of home ownership has gone up

Question 18

where are Liberal Democrats most popular

Answer 18

in the south where there is a long tradition of non conformity

Question 19

true or false age is a social factor

Answer 19

true

Question 20

policies which appeal to older voters include

Answer 20

lower taxation
strong national defence
law and order

Question 21

younger voters are more concerned with …

Answer 21

issues e.g. social justice & the environment

Question 22

age is significant in determining voting behaviour e.g. ___ is the pivotal age we switch from supporting ____ to ______

Answer 22

47
labour , conservative

Question 23

Conservative party benefits more from older people than lab does from younger people why is this

Answer 23

young people are less likely to vote than older people who cast their ballots regularly

Question 24

sometimes the main parties are able to reach beyond their core age support give an example of this

Answer 24

1997 labour achieve a 5% lead over the conservatives among voters aged 65+

Question 25

true or false ethnicity is a social factor

Answer 25

true

Question 26

historically commonwealth immigrants were more likely to vote ____ because they were in the social class ___ , ___ & ___

Answer 26

labour
C2, D & E

Question 27

____ has had a clear advantage over the ______ in the support of ethnic minorities

Answer 27

labour , conservatives

Question 28

what are the 4 valence factors

Answer 28

campaigns
manifesto
leadership
governing competence

Question 29

valence factors inform ….

Answer 29

peoples judgment about the competence of the government & opposition

Question 30

give examples of times elections were won due to governing competence

Answer 30

1959 harold macmillan , conserv won 100 seat majority
1964 harold wilson , conservs shrouded in failures + scandals e.g. Profumo scandal 1963
1966 under wilson labour increased majority seats to over 100
1974 Edward heath plagued by miner strikes called a snap election & lost to lab
1979 strikes + misquoted Callaghan ‘crisis? what crisis?” lost power to thatcher coined “winter of discontent”

Question 31

explain the importance of Governing competence

Answer 31

if swing voters are reassured the govt is competent then they are less likely to vote for opposition parties but if the govt seems unable to cope with challenges then swing voters will be encouraged to vote in new govt

Question 32

give examples of years elections were won based on good leadership

Answer 32

1983, 2001, 2010, 2015

Question 33

why did Thatcher win in 1983

Answer 33

reputation for strong & focused leadership won over voters who might have voted lab , labs leader Michael foot looked out of touch

Question 34

why did Blair win in 2001

Answer 34

Blairs personality and charisma won voters away from the conservatives , weak + divided under Hague

Question 35

why did conservatives do better than labour in the 2010 election

Answer 35

Cameron succeeded in focusing election on increase of national debt under Brown , wasn’t able to achieve parliamentary majority Nick Clegg v popular at time

Question 36

UKIP won ___% of votes in 2015 due to their relentless focus on immigration which made it an issue among the ___

Answer 36

13%
WC

Question 37

explain the importance of leadership as a valence factor

Answer 37

a popular party leader can be v important in winning support even if they have negative approval ratings can still achieve high if they define their advantage to the public

Question 38

give examples of good campaigning that affected voting behaviour

Answer 38

1992 John major used ‘soapbox politics’ effective so won labour votes
2017 Corbyn led campaign similar to major appealed directly to the people contrasting Mays approach

Question 39

give examples of bad campaigning that affected voting behaviour

Answer 39

1983 campaign socialist rhetoric of labour applied only to core supporters

Question 40

campaigns are not as important as _____ _____ or ______ in determining voting behaviour

Answer 40

governing competence , leadership

Question 41

give an example of when governing competence & leadership have proved to be more important than campaigns

Answer 41

1987 labour campaign successful but did not win votes
2017 campaign successful but did not win

Question 42

____ voting is becoming increasingly important to voters

Answer 42

issue

Question 43

give an example of issue voting

Answer 43

1983 conserv warnings that lab would end ‘ right to buy’ scheme contributed to Thatchers landslide re-election

Question 44

what are the 4 elements of the UK media

Answer 44

opinion polls
the press
TV + radio
social media

Question 45

what are opinion polls

Answer 45

an assessment of public opinion by questioning a representative sample

Question 46

what are examples of opinion polls

Answer 46

yougov, ipsos mori

Question 47

give examples of times achieving a lead in the polls has not been helpful for a party

Answer 47

1992 polls told of labour support growing meaning more cons turned out
2015 polls predicted close race between cons & lab so con voters turned out

Question 48

the press tend to over ______ their role in general elections

Answer 48

exaggerate

Question 49

give examples of the press over exaggerating their role

Answer 49

1992 ‘its the sun wot won it’
1997 ‘the sun backs Blair’

Question 50

why is press not that important

Answer 50

often simply reinforce voting intentions rather than changing them + rapid decline of newspapers due to internet availability

Question 51

in 199_ there was __ million newspaper readers this saw a rapid decline and in 201_ there was ___ million newspaper readers

Answer 51

7
3.8 million newspaper
1.6 million newspaper

Question 52

the BBC and ITN are ____

Answer 52

impartial

Question 53

name three leaders who used TV to their advantage or disadvantage

Answer 53

harold macmillan (1957 - 1963)
Margaret Thatcher (1979 - 1990)
Tony Blair (1997 - 2007)

Question 54

how did harold macmillan use media to his advantage

Answer 54

appeared on BBC regularly before 1959 election

Question 55

how did TV become a disadvantage for Harold macmillan

Answer 55

he became a point of mockery for popular satirical programmes as an Edwardian figure (e.g. ‘that was the week that was’)

Question 56

how did Margaret Thatcher use TV to her advantage

Answer 56

softened her voice
wore bolder outfits
favoured appearing on sympathetic programmes

Question 57

how did Blair use TV to his advantage

Answer 57

during his years ‘spin’ became dominant
his press secretary Alistair Campbell understood importance of spinning a story
good composure e.g. ‘people’s princess’ tribute

Question 58

how did Blair undermine his relationship with the media

Answer 58

cash for honours scandal 2006 businessmen pay Blair x amount to make themselves a lord + other failures undermined positive media relationship