voting behaviour

Question 1

partisanship

Answer 1

being closely aligned with who your family voted for - predjudice in favour of a particular cause
bias/ preference in favour of particular group expressed through affection, loyalty and support

Question 2

valence issue

Answer 2

people vote for the party they most trust on what they deem most important issues (NHS and economy)
as opposed to ‘position issues’ that can be devisive

Question 3

voting behaviour

Answer 3

there is a belief that voting can be studied scientifically (facts and statistics)

Question 4

rival theories

Answer 4

sociological model (class, age)

party identification model (family votes conservatives, so you will too)

rational choice model (people aren’t identifying with parties like they used to)

Question 5

sociological model

Answer 5

links voting behaviour to group membership
person tends to adopt a voting pattern that reflects the economic and social position of the group

Question 6

socialisation

Answer 6

process of inheriting or disseminating beliefs, norms, values and identities

Question 7

rationality

Answer 7

people are believed to support the party that is most likely to advance the interest of their group

Question 8

party identification model

Answer 8

people develop a sense of psychological attachment to a political party - ‘their party’
voting is therefore a manifestation of partisanship

Question 9

rational choice model

Answer 9

voting is portrayed as a rational act that is undertaken on an individual basis
party preference on the basis of personal interest

Question 10

issue voting

Answer 10

voting behaviour that are shaped by party policies and a calculation of personal self - interest

Question 11

long term factors affecting voting

Answer 11

• social class
• party loyalty
• gender
• age
• religion/ ethnicity
• region

Question 12

short term factors affecting voting

Answer 12

• performance of government
• leaders
• party image
• campaigning
• tactical voting

Question 13

social class

Answer 13

stable conservative- labour two party system of the 1945-70 period - reflection of ‘class alignment’
1970’s onwards UK experienced accelerating process of class dealignment

Question 14

class dealignment

Answer 14

weakening relationship between social class and party support

Question 15

explanations for class dealignment

Answer 15

• changing class system
• cross class locations
• embourgeoisement
• sectorial cleavages

Question 16

changing class system

Answer 16

manual workforce shrunk from 58% in 1961 to 29% in 2013

Question 17

cross class locations

Answer 17

social class has become less clear cut
decline in trade union membership and rise of home ownership

Question 18

embourgeoisement

Answer 18

growing affluence has encouraged some working class voters to think of themselves as being middle class

Question 19

sectorial cleavages

Answer 19

voters have been affected by whether they work in public sector or private sector

Question 20

party loyalty

Answer 20

1945-70 most voters had clear and enduring identification with a party
‘partisan alignment’

Question 21

partisan dealignment

Answer 21

process where individuals no longer identify themselves on a long term basis by being associated with a certain political party

Question 22

explanations for partisan dealignment

Answer 22

increased education
impact of media
ideological change
decline in social capital

Question 23

increased education

Answer 23

voters question traditional party loyalties

Question 24

impact of media

Answer 24

voters have access to wider sources of political info (tv and social media) less dependent on party supporting newspapers

Question 25

ideological change

Answer 25

shifts in parties policies and ideological beliefs have alienating some of their traditional supporters

Question 26

decline in social capital

Answer 26

post industrial society is happy, diverse and fluid
by 2005 10% of voters claimed to be ‘very strong’ patty identifiers

Question 27

policies

Answer 27

1983 labour manifesto described a former labour minister as ‘longest suicide note in history’
labours long road back to electability started with a comprehensive policy review
after 2005 conservatives tried to revive their electoral fortunes

Question 28

AB (social class)

Answer 28

higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations

Question 29

C1 (social class)

Answer 29

supervisory, junior managerial and professional occupations

Question 30

C2 (social class)

Answer 30

skilled manual occupations

Question 31

DE (social class)

Answer 31

semi skilled and unskilled manual occupations, unemployed and lowest grade occupations

Question 32

social mobility

Answer 32

moving up classes

Question 33

floating voters

Answer 33

voters who have no strong attachment to a particular party and are open to persuasion and late influence in their voting choice

Question 34

partisan

Answer 34

a reliable number of people that support a particular political party and will always vote for them

Question 35

class dealignment

Answer 35

process in which individuals no longer identify with a particular social class which informs their voting choice

Question 36

partisan dealignment

Answer 36

process where an individual no longer associated themselves to a certain particular party on a long term basis as a loyal supporter and voter

Question 37

class alignment

Answer 37

voting in accordance with the political party that best protects and serves the interests of that particular class

Question 38

apathy (participation crisis)

Answer 38

when an individual/ large number of the electorate became uninterested in politics which is frequently seen in low turnout rates

Question 39

sociological model

Answer 39

model that attempts to define how people vote by linking voting behaviour to group membership (e.g social class, age, gender, ethnicity, religion and region)

Question 40

rational choice model

Answer 40

model that attempts to define how people will vote by assessing which is the most beneficial choice for that individual voter

Question 41

governing competency

Answer 41

electorates view on how well the current government or how well an opposition might do if elected to form the next government

Question 42

accessibility

Answer 42

leaders must be telegenic and demonstrate a relaxed likeability

Question 43

trust

Answer 43

voters need to believe that what their leaders say is true

Question 44

strength

Answer 44

leaders have to demonstrate that they can ‘run the show’

Question 45

party image

Answer 45

• labour had an image problem in the 1980’s
• during 1990’s conservatives developed reputation as the nasty party

Question 46

campaigning

Answer 46

• 2015 general election, conservatives got £78 million which exceeded all other parties combined
• net impact of national campaigning may be less significant than getting backing of major newspapers (murdoch group)

Question 47

tactical voting

Answer 47

voting not for a preferred party but for the ‘least bad’ party/ to defeat the ‘worst party’
in 1997 and 2001, tactical voting favoured labour and liberal democrat’s and damaged conservatives

Question 48

governing competency

Answer 48

perceived ability of governing party in office to manage affairs of state effectively, also applies to how voters regard the competency of an opposition party if it were to win