Voting Behaviour Flashcards
In what countries is voting compulsory?
Australia, Belgium and Greece
What are some characteristics of liberal democracies?
Free elections, the right to oppose, popular control of policy makers, political equality, law making by elected representatives, majority rule
What has the drop in partisan alignment been?
Percentage of people who identify very strongly with a party has dropped from 45% in 1964 to 13% in 2001
What are 6 short term influences on voting behaviour?
- Issue voting
- Party leaders
- Impact of mass media
- Effectiveness of campaigning
- Events that lead up to election e.g war
- The economy
What are 8 long term influences on voting behaviour?
Social class, ethnicity, gender, age, party identification, family upbringing, region, religion
Where are Labours strongholds?
The northernmost regions of England, Scotland and Wales
Where do the conservatives have strongholds?
In the south, especially in the south-east
Who suggested that a governments popularity will increase if voters see a positive change in the economy?
David Sanders
Why does party leadership have more of an impact on voting behaviour in the modern day?
All leaders have to look good on TV- typically handsome, strong and direct leaders boost popularity (hence labours struggle with Ed Milliband)
What current affair issues can have an impact on party popularity?
Bad unemployment, inflation, MP scandals (see the back to basics backfire).
Why are current affairs issues becoming increasingly important to voting behaviour?
Due to the rise in dealignment and floating voters, some people will make their minds up based on the last piece of news that they heard
How much money was spent on the 2005 general election campaign?
£40,000,000
What is the most popular type of opinion poll?
Random sampling based on the electoral register
How do political parties find opinion polls useful?
They enable them to know the popularity of their policies and which voters they should be targeting
In what countries are opinion polls banned?
In france, opinion polls must not be published within 24 hours of the general election
Why would some countries wish to ban opinion polls?
Because they can influence voters and produce a ‘bandwagon effect’ where people vote for the party that they think will win anyway.
97% of homes have what?
A television
50% of homes have what?
Access to the Internet
What are the arguments that the media is too influential on voters?
- Overall coverage of elections is very high
- They are too focused on politicians leaders than policies
- What newspapers put on the front page matters (e.g it was the sun what swung it)
- Investigative journalism focuses more on little details
- Editors have unlimited influence on papers, and therefore what they print, meaning they are a prime target for politicians (e.g Cameron and Rebekkah Brook)
- An increasing number of people are using the Internet and televised debates to help them choose parties
What are the arguments that the media is not influential on voters?
- Decreasing readership of newspapers
- Broadcast media is heavily regulated
- There is little evidence to show that newspapers make a difference on voting
- The main news stations (eg BBC) are unbiased
What percentage of the electorate is the ‘grey vote’?
20%, and 70% of these vote, making them very important
In what second-order elections is turnout usually low?
By-elections, local council elections, devolved government elections, European elections and crime commissioner elections
How do the public use by-elections?
To send a message to government- eg if a conservative government is taxing the area harshly, voters would pick labour in by elections to show their discontent. This DOES NOT mean that they will also win the general election
Why do by-elections matter?
They offer the government a snapshot of public opinion, they show the government the reaction of the public to new bills, they can help governments with small majorities, and they can act as a platform for smaller parties
