Voting Behaviour and the Media Flashcards
What is a manifesto?
A document produced by a party at election time containing policies that the party would carry out if that party was to from a government
What is a mandate?
The legitimacy gained by a party when it wins an election to form a government, enact policies in the manifesto, enact policies not in the manifesto of unforeseen circumstances arise
What is a partisan-aligned voters?
core voters
identified clearly with one side
life long supporter
What are rational choice voters
issue voters
votes for the party that suits them best:
had their important interests
what’s good for society
what’s good for themselves
What are valence voters
government competency voters
votes for the party that will do the best job:
how well they manage the economy
and united government
strong leadership
What does government competency mean?
the perceived ability of the governing party in office to manage the affairs of state effectively
Evidence that party leaders affect election outcomes?
For;
Harold Wilson popularity won his party the election as it was a close race
Unknown leaders may hold back their parties
Corbyn was portrayed as an anti semitist
Against:
Thatcher still won against Callaghan who was popular in polls
Clear was very popular in 2010 but Lib Dem still lost seats
What were the features of the 1951 election
Leaders: Winston Churchill (Cons.) and Clement Attlee (Lab.)
Seats: Cons- 321 (48%) and Lab - 295 (49%)
Major policies and Campaigns:
Cons - accepeted creation of Nahe
reduce rationing
focused on Churchills strength as a war leader
Lab - bring down cost of living
emphasised on achievements since 1945
Reasons for result - liberals did not stand in all constituencies
conservatives said they would not reverse any reforms since 1945
Labour divided over prescription charges
What were the features of the 1997 election)
Leaders: John Major (Cons.) and Tony Blair (Lab.)
Seats: Cons- 165 (30.7%) and Lab - 418 (43.2%)
Major policies and Campaigns:
Cons - keep public spending fown
focus spending on services that matter
low tax economy
Lab - abandoned traditional commitment to nationalisation
tough on crime tougher on the causes of crime
skilful PR and targeted marginal constituency
Reasons for result - black wednesday meant conservative economic credibility was damaged
newspapers supportive of conservative
cons divided over Europe
labour modernised the parties old radical views
What were the features of the 2017 election?
Leaders: Theresa May (Cons.) and Jeremy Corbyn (Lab.)
Seats: Cons- 318 (42.4%) and Lab - 262 (40%)
Major policies and Campaigns:
Cons - reform social care for the elderly
commitment to more spending
TM visited constituencies with high leave EU vote
Lab - abolish tuition fees
raise income tax on riches 5%
provided 50 hours of free childcare
Reasons for result - Corbyn had a divided support in the labour party and the general public
What are the voting trends of social class
working class vote Labour while middle and upper class vote conservative
become a less key determiner recently
1951: manual - 63% Labour, non-manual - 75%
1997: manual - 55% Labour, non manual - 39% conservative and 33% labour
2017: manual - 44% Labour and 41% Conservative, non manual 40% Labour and conservative 44%
What is partisan dealignment?
voters are less likely to see themselves as being lifelong supporter and become floating voters instead
What is class dealignment
people no longer see themselves as working class they might see themselves as no longer lifelong Labour supporters
What is consensus politics?
The two major parties have recently offered quite similar policies so many voters have become dissatisfied and voted for minor parties
What is disillusionment and apathy?
feeling let down by the political system and not caring about politics
