Voting Behaviour Flashcards
What are ‘A’ class voters?
Higher managerial, administrative or professional
What are ‘B’ class voters?
Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional
What are ‘ C1’ class voters?
Supervisory, clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional
What are ‘C2’ class voters?
Skilled manual workers
What are ‘D’ class voters?
Semi and unskilled manual workers
What are ‘E’ class voters?
State pensioners, casual or lowest grade workers, unemployed with state benefits only
What is class dealignment and what is it’s effect?
A tendency for fewer people to define themselves in terms of class - causing the main parties to adopt ‘centrist’ policies
What role did social class play in the EU referendum?
The working class were most likely to vote leave, which may be due to the belief that they were most disadvantaged by EU membership - instrumental voting
What is instrumental voting?
Voting behaviour motivated by self-interest
How does gender impact voting?
No significant difference between the way men and women vote, though there is a very variable tendency for women to be more likely to vote Labour
How does age impact voting?
Younger people more likely to vote labour or a third party - perhaps due to younger people having less responsibilities
How did age effect voting for Scottish independence?
71% of 16-18 voted in favour
27% of 65+ voted in favour
What are the trends in ethnic groups for voting?
Majority of Hindu and Sikhs’ voting Conservative
Majority of black people and Muslims’ voting Labour
Why do BME vote Labour?
Generally said to be economic factors, since this community is on the whole poorer than the white community. Hindu and Sikh communities have prospered more which may explain the Conservative vote.
