voting behaviour Flashcards
partisanship
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
valence issue
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
voting behaviour
there is a belief that voting can be studied scientifically (facts and statistics)
rival theories
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)
sociological model
links voting behaviour to group membership
person tends to adopt a voting pattern that reflects the economic and social position of the group
socialisation
process of inheriting or disseminating beliefs, norms, values and identities
rationality
people are believed to support the party that is most likely to advance the interest of their group
party identification model
people develop a sense of psychological attachment to a political party - ‘their party’
voting is therefore a manifestation of partisanship
rational choice model
voting is portrayed as a rational act that is undertaken on an individual basis
party preference on the basis of personal interest
issue voting
voting behaviour that are shaped by party policies and a calculation of personal self - interest
long term factors affecting voting
- social class
- party loyalty
- gender
- age
- religion/ ethnicity
- region
short term factors affecting voting
- performance of government
- leaders
- party image
- campaigning
- tactical voting
social class
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
class dealignment
weakening relationship between social class and party support
explanations for class dealignment
- changing class system
- cross class locations
- embourgeoisement
- sectorial cleavages
changing class system
manual workforce shrunk from 58% in 1961 to 29% in 2013
cross class locations
social class has become less clear cut
decline in trade union membership and rise of home ownership
embourgeoisement
growing affluence has encouraged some working class voters to think of themselves as being middle class
sectorial cleavages
voters have been affected by whether they work in public sector or private sector
party loyalty
1945-70 most voters had clear and enduring identification with a party
‘partisan alignment’
partisan dealignment
process where individuals no longer identify themselves on a long term basis by being associated with a certain political party
explanations for partisan dealignment
increased education
impact of media
ideological change
decline in social capital
increased education
voters question traditional party loyalties
impact of media
voters have access to wider sources of political info (tv and social media) less dependent on party supporting newspapers
ideological change
shifts in parties policies and ideological beliefs have alienating some of their traditional supporters
decline in social capital
post industrial society is happy, diverse and fluid
by 2005 10% of voters claimed to be ‘very strong’ patty identifiers
policies
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
AB (social class)
higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations
C1 (social class)
supervisory, junior managerial and professional occupations
C2 (social class)
skilled manual occupations
DE (social class)
semi skilled and unskilled manual occupations, unemployed and lowest grade occupations
social mobility
moving up classes
floating voters
voters who have no strong attachment to a particular party and are open to persuasion and late influence in their voting choice
partisan
a reliable number of people that support a particular political party and will always vote for them
class dealignment
process in which individuals no longer identify with a particular social class which informs their voting choice
partisan dealignment
process where an individual no longer associated themselves to a certain particular party on a long term basis as a loyal supporter and voter
class alignment
voting in accordance with the political party that best protects and serves the interests of that particular class
apathy (participation crisis)
when an individual/ large number of the electorate became uninterested in politics which is frequently seen in low turnout rates
sociological model
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)
rational choice model
model that attempts to define how people will vote by assessing which is the most beneficial choice for that individual voter
governing competency
electorates view on how well the current government or how well an opposition might do if elected to form the next government
accessibility
leaders must be telegenic and demonstrate a relaxed likeability
trust
voters need to believe that what their leaders say is true
strength
leaders have to demonstrate that they can ‘run the show’
party image
- labour had an image problem in the 1980’s
- during 1990’s conservatives developed reputation as the nasty party
campaigning
- 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)
tactical voting
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
governing competency
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
