Voting Behaviour Flashcards
Introduction
Many people would argue that social class is still the most important factor affecting voting behaviour. Others argue that other factors like geography, age and the media play a more important role. Traditionally, social class would have affected many aspects of life but now things may be changing. In the past people have been categorised into working class, who would have found life a little bit more challenging due to things like low income, and middle class, who were better off due to higher income or inheritance. In this essay I intend to discuss and come to the conclusion of whether social class is still the most important factor affecting voting behaviour or whether the other factors are more important.
Social class (Explain )
Traditionally, social class played a big role in peoples’ political views. Today, social class is categorised slightly differently than in the past. It is split up into letter groups. A, B and C2 are higher class and C2, D and E and lower class. Those in group A are more likely to be wealthy and have a well-paid job or successful business and those in E were most likely to be unemployed. This does affect the way people vote.
Social class (example)
For example, if you were of a higher social class you were more likely to have more money and more likely to vote Conservative due to their views on low taxation. If you were of a lower social class you were more likely to need government funding and benefits so you were more likely to vote Labour.
Social class (anaylsis)
This shows that social class was, traditionally, one of the most important factors that affected the way people vote. However, many could argue that this is no longer the case. Others agree that social class is becoming a less important factor that affects voting behaviour. This can be seen in recent election results. For example, in 2019, polls showed that the conservatives received the same amount of votes from those in a higher social class to those in a lower social class. This could have been because of the change in the Labour market. This shows that things are changing and social class is becoming a less important factor affecting voting behaviour.
Geography (explain)
Many would argue that geography is the most important factor affecting voting behaviour instead of social class. They may thing that the area you live in affects the way you vote rather than your social class. Traditionally, if you were from the South West of Scotland and the North West of England you were more likely to vote Labour. This could be because these areas were highly industrialised areas and there were a lot of low or unskilled people. This was seen in election results.
Geography (example)
For example, in the 2010 election, most of the people who lived in that are voted Labour.
Geography (analysis)
This shows that, traditionally, where you lived and what that area was like was an important factor that affected voting behaviour. However, just like social class things are changing. Election results shows that where you live may no longer be as important of a factor that affects the way people vote. For example, in the 2019 election, those same areas that voted Labour in 2010 voted for SNP in Scotland and Conservative in England. This could be because these areas are no longer heavily industrialised or because people no longer think that where they live affects how they vote. This shows that geography is becoming a less important factor affecting voting behaviour.
Age (explain)
Others would argue that age is the most important factor affecting voting behaviour. They could say that you age is more important now that social class or where you live. Traditionally, the younger you are the more likely you are to vote Labour because you are more likely to have less money and need benefits and the older you are the more likely you are to vote Conservative because of their low taxation policies. This was shown in the election polls
Age (example)
In 2017, election result polls showed that 66% of young people (under 20) voted for labour and 69% of older people (above 70) voted Conservative
Age (anaylsis)
This shows that, even in 2017, age was still an important factor of how people voted. However this is gradually changing. Many would argue that age is becoming less important in how people vote and this is reflected in recent election results. For example, the election polls in 2019 show that 56% of young people voted for Labour which is a 10% decrease and 67% of older people voted for Conservative which is a 2% decrease. This shows that if you are older and more likely to have traditional views then age is still an important factor affecting voting behaviour. However, age is becoming a less important factor for young people. This could be because of one other factor that affects how people vote.
Media (explain)
Many could argue that the media plays the biggest role in how people vote. Traditionally, newspapers would have been the most effective way to influence voters but less people are buying then and more are turning to social media. Social media is used by politicians more than ever to reach audiences they otherwise may not be able to influence through traditional media like newspapers or radio
Media (example)
. For example, teenagers and young people are the most likely to be using social media and they are also the least likely to be buying and reading a newspaper so politicians are able to use this to their advantage.
Media (analysis)
This shows that media is a growing factor affecting voting behaviour. However, there is an option on social media platforms to have targeted ads. This means that the ads that people see on social media is catered to them. This can affect social media’s influence on voters. For example, if someone does not usually look up political things on their device whether that be through Google or by following politicians on social media then they are less likely to have ads about politics. This can result in them not being influenced by politics on social media. This shows that in some cases social media is not the most important factor. Overall, the media is a factor that is growingly more important.
conclusion
In conclusion, social class is not still the most important factor affecting voting behaviour. Traditionally, social class was the most important factor in many aspects of life but today it is becoming less important as people now don’t live their lives according to their social class and there is more flexibility to move between social classes. This was shown in the 2019 election results. Geography is also not the not important factor. Similarly to social class, it was traditionally, a big factor but is becoming less important. This is shown again in the 2019 election results. Age for older people is still an important factor but for younger people and overall it is becoming less important and shown in the 2019 polls with the decrease in traditional votes for parties based on age. However, social media is becoming more important as it is a growing industry and more and more people are using it. In the future this could become the most important factor that affects voting behaviour as more people use it so more people can be influenced by it.
