Voting Behaviour Flashcards
Introduction
In more recent elections such as the 2017 and 2019 general elections there has been an extreme change in voting behaviour and style. Gone are the days of party loyalty and print media. Nowadays, the majority of the population generally vote on the issue and are influenced by newer forms of media such as social media and blogs which have the potential to be far more biased to a specific side of the issue. There are many different factors which influence voting behaviour like age, social class, social media, gender and traditional media. This essay will argue that age is the most influential factor on voting behaviour.
Age (KNOWLEDGE 1)
Age is the most influential factor on voting behaviour. This can be seen by the lower support for the Labour Party among the older electorate in comparison to the younger in the 2017 General Election. This evidenced by the results showing that 56% of the 18- 24-year-old voters voted Labour in comparison to voters aged 70+ with only 14% of votes cast being for Labour.
Age (KNOWLEDGE 2)
In addition, age plays a further role in voting behaviour which can be seen as older people are more likely to vote for change.
This is evident in the 2016 Brexit vote to which 60% of 50+ year olds voted to leave the EU to which 63% of 16-49-year olds voted to remain in the EU.
Age (EVALUATION)
In evaluation, age is the most influential factor on voting behaviour. Not only is there a trend in the UK General Elections, with an over 40% difference in Labour voting between Under 25s and Over 70s in the 2017 Election, there is also a trend in the Brexit Referendum; with 6/10 older voters choosing to leave and over 60% of younger voters (50 and under) voting to remain. This clearly shows that age is a dominating factor when considering the issue of voting behaviour.
Social class (KNOWLEDGE 1)
Social class is influential on voting behaviour to a certain extent. This can be seen by the fact that regardless of class, percentages of votes per party are likely to be the same.
This is evident as in 2017 people in social class ABC1 voted 45% Conservative and 40% Labour. This was the same with social class C2DE who voted roughly 45% Conservative and 43% Labour.
Social class (KNOWLEDGE 2)
However, during Brexit social class was more influential on voting behaviour. This can be seen when examining the different classes voting results during Brexit in 2016.
This is evident as social class ABC1 had relatively balanced results with 55% voting to remain and 45% voting to leave which contrasts with social class C2DE who primarily voted to leave with 63% voting to leave and only 37% voting to remain.
Social class (evaluation)
In evaluation, on one hand social class is influential on voting behaviour to a certain extent as results in 2017 support for each party was similar across all social classes showing that class did not influence the voting results.
However, in the 2016 Brexit referendum social class showed a clear influence as results between class ABC1 and C2DE showed a drastic difference with ABC1 primarily voting to remain and C2DE primarily voting to leave.
Traditional media (KNOWLEDGE 1)
Traditional media is a factor that influences on voting behaviour. This can be seen as many young people across the UK receive news from traditional news outlets.
This is evident as in 2017, YouGov produced a graph which showed that 64% of 18-24 year old’s across the UK take in news from BBC, compared to only 16% who receive news from Twitter.
Traditional media (KNOWLEDGE 2)
However traditional media is arguably less influential on voting behaviour. This can be seen when examining the disguised bias hidden within the media.
This is evident when in 2019, Boris Johnson and the UK government criticised the BBC by ‘insisting it is seriously considering decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee due to the anti- Tory bias’ (The guardian 2019).
Traditional media (EVALUATION)
In evaluation, traditional media is a less influential factor on voting behavior. It’s clear that although more than half of people under the age of 25 are taking in news from traditional news outlets such as the BBC as understood from YouGov in 2017, whilst they’re still under the influence of social media, nevertheless it’s clear that many people are starting to question traditional media as a whole due to its disguised and somewhat hidden biased.
Social media (KNOWLEDGE 1)
Social Media is an important factor to consider in influencing voting behaviour. This can be seen by the effect social media has on voting behaviour.
For example in the 2017 General Election, 50% of 18-24 year olds said social media had the most influence over their vote, according to a YouGov poll done on July 20-21, 2017.
Social media (KNOWLEDGE 2)
However, it can be argued that social media is not the most influential factor on voting behaviour. This is because although social media can generate support, this does not mean that this support translates into votes.
For example, Labour spent £1.25 million in the run-up to the 2019 election on Facebook advertisement. However, this did not attribute to much support as Labour ended up losing 59 seats, with Labour having lost seats in every region of England except the south-east.
Social media (evaluation)
In evaluation, therefore it is clear that although Media does have an influence on voting behaviour because it is a popular source of information, particularly for the younger generation of voters, it is not the most influential factor because there is no clear evidence to suggest that social media ensures a party to win.
Gender (KNOWLEDGE 1)
Gender is argued by some as a factor in determining voting behaviour. This can be seen when examining the comparison of men and women voting Labour in the 2019 general election.
An example of this can be shown by YouGov on 17th December, 2019 where men 18-24 voted 46% for Conservative, whilst women 18-24 voted 65% Labour.
Gender (KNOWLEDGE 2)
However it can be argued that gender is not an influential reason for voting behaviour when considering gender across all year groups. This can be seen when looking at the marginal difference between Men and Women when it comes to voting for Conservative or Labour notwithstanding age.
An example can be shown by YouGov on December 17 in the 2019 where the data pointed towards a very small gender gap, with the Conservatives on 46% among men and 44% among women, and Labour on 31% among men and 35% among women”.
