Voting behaviour Flashcards
1
Q
Introduction
A
- In more recent elections such as the 2017 and 2019 general elections there has been a change in voting behaviour and style.
- Now, 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 media, traditional media and gender.
- This essay will argue that age is the most influential factor on voting behaviour.
2
Q
Age
A
- Age is the most influential factor on voting behaviour.
- This can be seen when looking at the fact Labour were more popular among young people in the 2017 general election.
- An example of this is seen in the General election results in 2016-2017 in which 56% of People aged 18-24 voted Labour compared to those ages 70+ had only 14% of people voted labour.
3
Q
Age - Analysis
A
- Arguably this is important as it shows that younger people are more likely to vote Labour which is a more liberal party whereas older people are more likely to vote Conservative as shown in the 2017 election.
4
Q
Age reinforce
A
- In addition, age plays a bigger role in voting behaviour.
- This can be seen in the 2019- election with the Conservative party gaining less votes.
- An example of this is seen in YouGov in 2019 where 56% of 18-24 year olds voted Labour and 21% 18-24 year olds voted Conservative.
5
Q
Age reinforce - analysis
A
- Arguably, this shows that age is in fact the most influential factor on voting behaviour as it makes it clear that Labour is the most favoured party among young people in the 2019 general election and the Conservative party is not voted for very much amongst the younger electorate, but more so the 70+ cohort.
6
Q
Age - evaluation
A
- In evaluation, Age is the most influential factor on voting behaviour as it is clear that in 2017 there was more younger people aged 18 -24 voting for Labour than there were older people (70+) where only 14% voted.
- This is also clear that Labour is the more favoured party among younger people as shown in the 2019 general election when 56% of people aged 18-19 voted Labour in comparison to 21% voting conservative.
7
Q
Social media
A
- 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.
8
Q
Social media Analysis
A
- Arguably this shows that social media has a huge impact on who people vote for, with over half of young people saying it was their main source of information when voting.
9
Q
Social media rebuttal
A
- 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 and losing seats in every region of England except the south-east.
10
Q
Social media analysis
A
- Arguably this shows that media is not always a profitable investment for parties, as gaining support online does not guarantee an increase in votes.
11
Q
Social media evaluation
A
- 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.
12
Q
traditional media
A
- Traditional media is a factor of influence on voting behaviour.
- This can be seen in examining the British public’s differing perception on specific newspapers and how this affects their voting tendencies.
- An example of this is from “Do people in the UK trust the media?” from YouGov December 16th, 2019, which says that “Britons are most likely to trust journalists working for the likes of The Times and The Guardian to tell the truth – overall a third (34%) of Britons say they trust these newspapers”.
13
Q
traditional media analysis
A
- Arguably this shows traditional media is an influential factor on voting behaviour as some newspapers, in the eyes of the public, are more reliable than others and therefore people are more likely to have their political views be swayed by them.
14
Q
traditional media rebuttal
A
- However, traditional media is arguably less influential on voting behaviour.
- This can be seen in examining the significant amount of bias and the likelihood for this to impact how people vote.
- An example of this can be found in a YouGov article from 16th December 2019, where it states that “one in five Britons now do not trust the public broadcaster to tell the truth at all”.
15
Q
traditional media rebuttal analysis
A
- Arguably this shows traditional media is a less influential factor on voting behaviour as 20% of the British public believe that the media is untrustworthy and so people are less likely to turn to them to influence their political views.
