Voting Behaviour Flashcards
Long-term factors of voting behaviour are
Class, ethnicity, gender, age
What is class dealignment
Where class is no longer voting the way they traditionally would based on their occupation. E.g. working class no longer voting labour
What is partisan dealignment
Where people are no longer voting the way they traditionally would even thought they have historical links to it. E.g. everyone in you family before you vote labour but now you vote conservative.
Short-term factors of voting behaviour
Economic circumstances, population of party leaders, media interest, opinion polls and specific issues
Factors influencing turnout
Age - younger votings forget to vote where as older ones don’t ‘the grey vote’
>also apathy, disillusionment and abstention
Do election campaigns effect voting behaviour
> some people think that election campaign have little impact on voting behaviour because most people have already made up their minds
arguably no longer the case e.g. 2017 general election
part campaigns were not the only factor here: also down to leadership, media coverage, polls being inaccurate, more young people voting.
The media’s effect on voting behaviour
> Arguably has an increasing influence because of partisan dealignment and reduction in long-term factors.
More sophisticated use of social media and online advertising, including use of voter databases, is increasingly important.
Meant to be unbiased but both wings accuse the other of being biased.
The 1983 general election
> Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative party landslide victory win
Conservative - 397(seats), 42.4%(vote share)
Labour - 209(seats), 27.6%(vote share)
