voting behaviour and the media Flashcards

1
Q

how does class affect voting patterns

A
  • traditionally working class (D and E) have votes for Labour, linking to trade unions
  • middle class (A and B) tend to vote for Conservatives as they own more assets
  • privatisation and decline of trade union power under Thatcher reduced the size of Labour
  • change in 1997 when there was a switch across classes to Labour under Blair
  • middle class are more likely to vote as they have more assets at stake
  • in 2010, 76% of the two highest social classes voted, compared to 57% for the two lowest
  • class dealignment
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2
Q

define class dealignment

A

individuals no longer associate themselves with a class and thus do not vote for who they are expected to

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3
Q

how does party loyalty affect voting patterns

A
  • partisan dealignment
  • people are now less likely to instilled by family traditions on voting
  • more people are swing voters and open to persuasion from either party
  • disillusion and apathy
  • in 1979, 81% of electorate voted for either Labour or Conservatives and has fallen to 74% in 1997 and 65% by 2010
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4
Q

define partisan dealignment

A

decline in individuals attachment and loyalty to a certain party

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5
Q

define disillusion

A

disappointment in the party and politics and believe they cannot solve problems or make a difference

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6
Q

define apathy

A

lack of interest or enthusiasm in politics

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7
Q

how does gender affect voting patterns

A
  • women are slightly more likely to vote conservative, most likely due traditional tory values on family
  • in blair era, voting habits between genders lessened as women were now more likely to have a job and labour had more family friendly policies
  • older women tend to vote conservatives (2019- 30% 18-24 compared to 42% over 65)
  • turnout is the same
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8
Q

how does age affect voting patterns

A
  • older people usually vote conservative as they have more material interests
  • younger people are less likely to vote idealistically
  • older generations may remember difficulties faced by Labour in 1970
  • in 2019, 61% of over 65 voted conservatives, versus 25% of 18-24)
  • as a result, conservatives factor in policies for older people like triple pension lock
  • older people are more likely to vote (76% of over 65 in 2010, but 44% for 18-24)
  • young people are more disillusioned by politics
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9
Q

how does ethnicity affect voting pattern

A
  • ethnic minorities more likely to vote labour, which may overlap with class
  • asians are more likely to vote conservatives because they respond to party’s emphasis on small business values
  • in 2010, ethnic minorities preferred labour by 60% to 26%
  • white peoples re more likely to vote- 67% in 2010 compare to 51% of ethnic minorities
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10
Q

how does region affect voting pattern

A
  • most votes in south and rural or suburbs are conservatives
  • cities like london vote labour
  • north england and wales tend to vote labour
  • turnout is lowest in northern ireland, perhaps due to the political situation stabilising
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11
Q

demographic factors affecting voting patterns

A
  • class
  • gender
  • age
  • region
  • ethnicity
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12
Q

how does rational choice theory explain voting patterns

A
  • voters act like consumers and evaluate the most beneficial options
  • more educated electorate
  • look at manifestos and choose the party that most closely aligns with them
  • however doesn’t show where voters disagree with the party
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13
Q

how does issue voting affect voting patterns

A
  • voters make a decision on a range of issue by becoming aware and having an opinion on an issue, and then voting for the party with follows their views
  • however, it is problematic as it relied on high political engagement and doesn’t explain all voting patterns, like voting preferring labour in 1987 and 1992 but still voting conservative
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14
Q

how does valence or revised rational choice theory explain voting patterns

A
  • people support the party best able to deliver on issues they care about
  • how much they trust the party to deliver and who would be the best PM to manage the country and economy
  • governing competency
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15
Q

define governing competency and examples

A

perceived ability for governing party in office to manage the affairs if state effect jekyll
- major lost power in 1997 when electorate thought he couldn’t handle financial crisis
- johnson was voted in as people believe he could deliver brexit

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16
Q

how does party leader affect voting patterns

A
  • charisma and personality party leaders
  • johnson still had faith due to his charismatic nature
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17
Q

how does economic model explain voting patterns

A
  • voters are more likely to support the party that has managed the economy successfully
  • vote for the party that will bring economic prosperity
  • can be influenced by inflation, unemployment and interest rates
  • conservatives managed to win in 2010 due to financial crisis
  • people reluctant to vote labour due to perceived poor handling of economy
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18
Q

define opinion polls

A

assess popularity of political parties by asking a sample of people how they intend to vote
conducted by Ipsos MORI, Populus and YouGov

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19
Q

examples of opinion polls being wrong

A

1992- failed to predict Major’s majority as polls predicted narrow Labour victory or hung parliament, may be due to boomerang effect where people voted after seeing outcome of opinion polls or due to “shy tories”
2015- predicted hung parliament but conservatives got a majority with 36.9% of the vote, may be due to inaccurate representation in opinion polls

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20
Q

examples of opinion polls being right

A

2015- predicted SNP over Labour in scotland

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21
Q

define internal poll

A

poll within party, including members and MPs, on internal party matters

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22
Q

define exit poll

A

asking people as they leave polling stations how they voted and seen as one of the most accurate polling- John Curtice

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23
Q

define focus group

A

group of people asked more in depth questions to see why outcomes have happened

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24
Q

how can opinion polls influence politics

A
  • influence policy direction and party leadership
  • “bandwagon effect” - vote for the party they think will win
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25
Q

print media in politics

A
  • newspapers have their own biases
  • 2016 EU referendum- pro leave newspapers outnumbered remain by 3 million readers
  • the sun- with daily readership of 4 million, has endorsed the winner of every uk election since 1979
  • conservative at 2015 election- the sun, daily mail, the daily telegraph
  • labour at 2015 election- daily mirror, the guardian
26
Q

television in politics

A
  • legally obliged to be impartial
  • debates cause rise of presidentialism- connect with leader rather than party
  • 9.6 million watched the first of the leaders’ debates in 2010 campaign
  • 62% cited television as the strongest influence in helping form their opinion
27
Q

internet and social media in politics

A
  • 82% of households had access at 2010 election
  • MP have their own websites
  • online newspapers
  • 2015 general election was the first to have had an impact by social media- conservatives spent £100,000 a month on facebook advertising, 79% of 18-24 year old relied totally online to inform themselves
    -attract younger audiences
  • leaders want to project a favourable image - cameron
  • blair recruited press secretary Alastair Campbell so that news announcements could be made around them
28
Q

influence and bias on social media on politics

A
  • cognitive dissonance
  • fake news
  • advertising and algorithms cause you to be in an echo chamber, where you only see views similar to your own
29
Q

define cognitive dissonance

A

human brain is overwhelmed with too much information so it struggles to accept new facts which can explain continuous support for a leader despite their actions

30
Q

effect of celebrity endorsement in politics

A

momentum in 2017 used rapper JME to back #grime4Corbyn, which increased turnout among 18-24 year olds up 16 percentages points

31
Q

media bias and influence on politics

A
  • focus on character of leader- entertainment
  • press have become overly partisan and mock and ridicule instead of inform
    -agenda setting and framing- media can shape public opinion by deciding which issues receive attention
32
Q

context of 1979 election

A
  • labour were being led by james callaghan
  • in previous election, labour had majority of 3 seats which they lost in by-elections and was kept in power by Liberals
  • 1970s had world economic dump where there was a sharp increase in oil prices due to Arab controlled OPEC protest against Western support for Israel in 1973 Yom Kippur War
    -inflation was at 26%
  • unemployment tripled
  • 1978-1979- trade unions went on strike like refuse collectors and gravediggers
  • attempted to limit wage increases by 5%
  • march 1979- labour were abandoned by liberals and lost a vote of no confidence
  • thatcher became leader of conservatives unexpectedly and presented herself as a pragmatist
  • the sun spun a story on callaghan to have said “crisis? what crisis?”not make him seem out of touch
33
Q

labour manifesto in 1979 election

A
  • curb on inflation and prices- cut by 5% in 3 years
  • strengthen world peace and defeat world poverty
  • balance the power back to the individual- giving council tenants more freedom
  • improve industrial relations with trade unions- three way talks with TUC
  • working. towards full employment, targeting the young and long term unemployed
  • doesn’t want to be apart of EEM
34
Q

conservative manifesto in 1979 election

A
  • restore health of economic and social life- controlling inflation and limiting trade unions
  • restore incentives so people work harder
  • uphold Parliament and rule of law
  • support family life- welfare services, raising standards of education
  • strengthen britains defences and allies
  • plans for right to buy council houses
  • privatisation
  • harsher on youth offenders
35
Q

conservative campaign 1979

A
  • “our maggie” to appeal to housewives and ordinary people
  • “don’t just hope for a better life. vote for one”
  • “iron lady” was spun to be a positive thing and seem like a capable leader
  • first woman pm
  • photo ops of her doing ordinary things like holding a cow
  • appearance and voice softened
  • saatchi and saatchi advertising company- conservative advent in cinema, “labour isn’t working” poster
  • went to swing seats in north but focused less on cutting welfare
  • however less popular than party and callaghan as leader
36
Q

what were opinion polls saying in 1979 election

A

conservative lead narrowed at the end of campaign

37
Q

results of 1979 election

A
  • 76% turnout
  • conservatives- 339 seats, 43.9% popular vote, +62 seats, +8.1% swing
  • labour- 269 seats, 36.9% popular vote, -50 seats
  • liberals- 11 seats, 13.8% popular vote
38
Q

results of 1979 election for each class

A

AB- con 59% (+3), lab 24% (+5), lib 15% (-6)
C2- con 41% (+15), lab 41% (-8), lib 15% ( -5)
DE- con 34% (+22), lab 49% (-8), lib 13% (-3)

39
Q

results of 1979 election for women and 18-24

A

women- con 47% (+8), lab 35% (-3), lib 15% (-5)
18-24- con 42% (+18), lab 41% (-1), lib 12% (-15)

40
Q

potential reasons for thatchers success in 1979 election

A
  • conservative campaign
  • not happy with labour
  • swing from liberals due to sex scandal with Jeremy Thoroe
41
Q

impact of 1979 election

A
  • conservative government until 1997
  • bit changes like privatisation and curbs on trade unions
  • thatcher went on to increase her majority
42
Q

context of 1997 election

A
  • conservatives had been in power for the last 18 years
  • on 1996 election, conservative majority went down to 1 due to by elections and people crossing the floor
  • conservatives divided over europe and new factions
  • economic state was recovering but was bad due to Black Wednesday, which caused a rise in interest rates, and people couldn’t forgive the conservatives
  • government had made allegations of sleaze
  • blair took over john smith after he had died, and was presented as the more charismatic and modern leader
  • new labour emerged with principles of finding a “third way”
  • class dealignment among electorate
43
Q

labour campaign during 1997 election

A
  • borrowed from successful Clinton campaign, which included a rebuttal unit which engaged in a swift response to any conservative attack
  • flexible
  • pledge card with 5 clear main messages
  • promises of constitutional reform to appeal to lib dem supporters
  • got support from the sun and other murdoch medias
44
Q

conservative campaign during 1997 election

A
  • “britain is booming, don’t let labour ruin it”
    -unable to escape reputation for corruption
  • back to basics campaign- against sleaze
  • new labour new danger campaign
45
Q

what were the opinion polls, saying in the 1997 election

A

labour was 20% ahead in most polls at the beginning but lead reduced during the campaign

46
Q

results of 1997 election

A
  • 71.4% turnout
  • labour- 418 seats, 43.2% of vote, +145 seats, +8.8% swing
  • conservatives- 165 seats, 30.7% of vote, -178 seats
  • lib dems- 46 seats, 16.8% of vote
47
Q

results of 1997 election for each class

A
  • AB- con 41%, lab 31% (+11)
  • C1- con 36%, lab 39% (+14)
  • C2- con 31%, lab 50% (+9)
  • DE- con 21%, lab 59% (+9)
48
Q

results of 1997 election for other demographic factors

A
  • labour vote share was 13.4% in neglected seats vs 12.5% in targeted seats
  • lab won the most votes in men and women
  • lab increased vote in all areas of UK, including conservative heartland
  • lab won the most votes in all age groups, especially 18-34
49
Q

impact of 1997 election

A
  • labour government until 2010
  • iraq war and afghanistan
  • internal labour divisions
  • historic turning point to turnout as it only decreased from here
  • new modern labour party
50
Q

context of 2015 election

A
  • cameron became conservative leader in 2005 and tried to modernise the party
  • entered into conservative and lib dem coalition in 2010- 2 referendums, legalising same sex marriage
  • problems with austerity- public services cut, pay frozen, tuition fees tripled, benefits capped/ reduced
  • scottish independence referendum saw increase in profile of Salmond and SNP
  • UKIP was on the rise which was a problem for conservatives and labour
  • there was division among conservatives in europe, which cameron offered an EU referendum if he secured a majority
  • in 2010, labour began their leadership contest between David Miliband who worked for Blair and Ed Miliband who worked for Brown- david was favourite but Ed had union support
  • labour was still under criticism from financial crash
51
Q

2015 election labour campaign

A
  • “a better plan. a better future”
  • focuses on NHS and missed the salient issue
  • Ed stone with labour pledges
  • celebrity endorsement in party political broadcast like martin freeman
52
Q

2015 election conservative campaign

A
  • heavy emphasis economy and labours inability to handle it
  • emphasis placed on incompetence of Ed Miliband as a leader, like bacon sarnie picture
  • portrayed threat of an SNP labour coalition, which many english people opposed to
  • party broadcast focused on family “securing a better future for you, your family and britain”
53
Q

tv debates in 2015

A
  • no head to head leader debate
  • opposition debate and tv debate with all parties but was not viewed well
54
Q

results of 2015 election

A
  • 66.2% turnout
  • conservative 331 seats, 36.9% of vote, +24 seats
  • labour 232 seats, 30.4% of vote, -26 seats
  • SNP 56 seats, 4.7% of vote, +50 seats
  • UKIP 1 seat, 12.6% vote share
  • lib dem’s 8 seats, -15.2% vote share change
55
Q

results of 2015 election for demographic groups

A
  • labour only had clear lead among 18-34 and BME voters
  • UKIP take third place among every group apart from AB and BME
  • UKIP do the best among older, white, working class voters
  • conservatives and labour increased vote share amongst BME voters
56
Q

impact of 2015 election

A
  • delivered EU referendum and as a result brexit
  • change to May and Johnson
57
Q

context of 2024 election

A
  • conservatives have been in power for the last 14 years
  • backlash from Truss and mini budget which tainted the conservative image
  • reform is in the rise and attracts far right conservatives
58
Q

conservative campaign in 2024 election

A
  • poor campaigning overall- lack of umbrella during election announcement, leaving D-Day celebrations early
59
Q

labour campaign in 2024 election

A
  • use of memes and mockery on social media to appeal to younger audiences
60
Q

opinion polls in 2024 election

A
  • labour had continuously been ahead in the polls (45% in BBC poll)
  • reform had been growing in the opinion polls and was even suggested to surpass conservative seats
61
Q

results in 2024 election

A
  • labour landslide with 158 seat majority, 33.7% vote share
  • conservative 121 seats, 23.7% vote share
  • high profile conservatives lost their seats like grant shapps and liz truss
  • lib dem’s get 72 seats with 12.2% of the vote share, and become 3rd biggest party
  • SNP lose 39 seats
  • nigel farage becomes MP for the first time in clacton on sea
  • green targeted 4 seats and won all of them
  • reform gain 5 seats