Voting behaviour and the media

Question 1

What did Lipsett and Rocket come up with in 1967?

Answer 1

Social cleavages - four theories explaining why someone votes a certain way. There were ethnicity, class, region and

Question 2

Class voting in 1979

Answer 2

Middle class (ABC1) - 59% Tory, 24% Labour
Lower working class (DE) - 34% Tory, 49% Labour

Question 3

Class voting in 1997

Answer 3

59% of DE voters voted Labour.
39% of ABC1 voters voted Conservative

Question 4

What is class dealignment?

Answer 4

The long term trend in which the electorate no longer closely associate themselves with a particular class, and therefore do not vote in accordance of that class

Question 5

Class voting in 2019

Answer 5

39% of DE voters voted Labour.
45% of AB voters voted Conservative

Question 6

Why has class dealignment occurred?

Answer 6

people within the uk, due to a rise on upward mobility, no longer strongly associate class with identity. Both parties have tended to adopt centrist policies. There can be a self perpetuating cycle of lower turnout for DE voters, leading to them being ignored, leading to them disengaging in politics etc…

Question 8

Gender voting in 1979

Answer 8

Men - 43% tory 40 % labour
Women - 47% Tory 35% Labour

Question 9

Gender voting in 1997

Answer 9

Men - Conservatives - 31%, Labour 45%
Women - 32% conservatives and 44% Labour.

Question 10

Gender voting in 2019

Answer 10

men - 46% Tory 31% Labour
Women - 43% Tory 34% Labour

Question 11

Ethnicity vote in 1997

Answer 11

BAME - 18% voted conservative, 70% voted labour

Question 12

Ethnicity vote in 2019

Answer 12

BAME - 20% conservative, 64 labour

Question 13

In 2019, how much more likely was someone to vote conservative for every 10 years they aged?

Answer 13

9% more likely

Question 14

Age voting in 1979

Answer 14

18-24 : 42% Tory 41% Labour
55+ : 47% Tory and 38% Labour

Question 15

age voting in 1997

Answer 15

18-24: 27% conservative 49% Labour
65+: 36% Tory and 41% labour

Question 16

Age voting in 2019

Answer 16

18-24: 21% Tory 56% Labour
65+: 57% Tory 22% Labour

Question 17

Regional voting in 2017 (North of England, South of England and Midlands)

Answer 17

North - 37% conservative, 53% Labour
South - 54% Conservative, 29% Labour
London - 33% Conservative, 55% Labour

Question 18

What are valence factors?

Answer 18

Voting based on the character of a party/leader - how competent they will be in government.

Question 19

Examples of valence factors influencing elections?

Answer 19

2010 general election - the financial crash of 2008 gave a negative image to the Labour party
Tony Blair in 1997 was seen as energized and trust worthy
Rishi Sunak in 2024 was blamed for the failures of previous tory prime ministers, as well as his indecisive policy - party gate ruined his reputation.

Question 20

What is partisan dealignment?

Answer 20

Voters no linger closely associate themselves with a political party, so elections see an increase in ‘floating voters’

Question 21

What is rational choice theory?

Answer 21

People vote for what they consider to be in their best interest, usually from economic policy.

Question 22

How do manifestos influence voting?

Answer 22

It gives the electorate a clear set of issues and policies, and attempt to convince voters that it is in their rational interest, or encourage salient issue voting, to vote for a party

Question 23

Give an example of a conservative party manifesto in 2024

Answer 23

Cut another 2p off National Insurance
Raise the minimum amount a pensioner receives - the pension triple lock of inflation, wages or 2.5% - whichever is highest

Question 24

How can party leaders be said to influence voting

Answer 24

A strong leader will be seen to objectively govern more competently. If they are seen to be charismatic, trustworthy, they can sway floating voters who do not have strong attachments to a certain party (partisan dealignment).

Question 25

Evidence that leadership matters from ratings?

Answer 25

Boris Johnson has the highest satisfaction rate of any leader (-1%) in 2019 and went on to win a landslide, whilst Jeremy Corbyn had the lowest (-38%) and suffered the worst defeat since 1938. This may be due to Corbyn's lack of a concrete policy on brexit

Question 26

Evidence that charisma matters in a leader?

Answer 26

John major was seen as old and weak, while tony Blair was seen as young and energetic.

Question 27

Why might leadership not matter?

Answer 27

Some other factors like manifestos and social cleavages may sway voters more.

Question 28

Evidence that leadership doesn't matter?

Answer 28

Nick clegg had the highest satisfaction rating in 2010, but his party lost five seats

Question 29

What is disillusion/apathy

Answer 29

A process by which some members of the electorate lose faith and confidence of the political system, so choose to disengage from the system, usually by not voting.

Question 30

example of salient or issue voting?

Answer 30

Conservative party was united in 2019 to 'get Brexit done' so received most of the leave vote, in contrast to Corbyn who was much more indecisive.

Question 31

Why may manifestos not be important in dictating voting behaviour?

Answer 31

Insignificant as 67% of people don’t read manifestos

Question 32

Evidence education has a liberalising affect?

Answer 32

2017: 40% of degree holders vote right-wing, 70% of those with no formal education vote right wing

Question 33

Evidence that youth turnout is low?

Answer 33

2017, only 54% turnout of 18-24, 15% below average - this was even during the supposed youthquake

Question 34

What explains political parties having broader support?

Answer 34

Centralised polices since 1980 (Duvergers Law) appeal to more classes (New Labour post-Thatcherism)

Question 35

Evidence that region is not as important

Answer 35

2019 - Tories won 33/63 red wall seats

Question 36

Why have woman shifted from supporting conservatives to labour

Answer 36

Traditionally was never in work, as they entered the work place their support for the labour party increased aswell.

Question 37

Evidence of a constituency being won from single issue voting?

Answer 37

Rochdale by election 2024 - workers party overthrew labour due to palestine

Question 38

Evidence that readership of the media is declining

Answer 38

Sales of the daily mirror dipped from 2.5 million to 1/3 million

Question 39

Evidence that influence is still far reaching just taking different forms?

Answer 39

Mirror - 61 million online visits in december 2021

Question 40

Evidence that newspapers are biased by there nature due to ownership

Answer 40

90% of the UK-wide print media is owned and controlled by just three companies, Reach, News UK and DMG Media. * likely to support tories due to rational choice - push for lower taxes and less corporate control

Question 42

Why could it be said that newspapers simply reenforce the political perspectives of the reader?

Answer 42

They create an echochamber, simply telling people what they want to hear, rather than changing their mind. This limits their influence

Question 43

Why could echo chambers still be influential?

Answer 43

although they just reinforce perspectives, they therefore reduce electoral volatitlity

Question 44

Why and evidence that media is good for democracy?

Answer 44

They are the medium in which the public can gain information and use it to decide how to vote. enhances scrutiny. * partygate 2021.

Question 45

Evidence that the media is not influential due to readership not alligning with their views.

Answer 45

17% of mail readers voted Labour in 2017

Question 46

Evidence that social media enhances democracy

Answer 46

* Makes news and politics more accessible to the younger generation, enhances debates and therefore encourages turnout and a pluralistic society - half of TikTok’s user base are 16-24

Question 47

Evidence that social media is bad for democracy

Answer 47

companies like Cambridge analytica use data to target & influence voters - unregulated and therefore has little power to stop the spread of fake news, as occured during the brexit referndum relating to immigration

Question 48

Evidence that broadcasts are influential

Answer 48

2022: 75% access news through TV

Question 49

Evidence that broadcast tv is good for democracy

Answer 49

Neutral (All bound to neutrality by law, Ofcom upheld 3 complaints against GB news for breaching impartiality in 2023)

Question 50

Evidence that uk newspapers are anti labour

Answer 50

2015 - 2/3 of tabloids were anti miliband.

Question 51

3 points + evidence that opnion polls are good for democracy

Answer 51

* Opinion polls keep politicians in touch with public opinion, allowing them to be more representative of the electorates views (Yougov poll found that % of population who view Russia as a threat increased from 34 to 64% in a year) * They can help scrutiny and for parties to be held accountable, for example in september 2022 TRuss was 33% behind LAbour, forcing her resignation * They encourage political engagement when races are exceptionally close - Scottish indendence referendum suggested an exceptionally tight race, which encouraged a very high turnout (84.6%) as it makes people feel that their votes matterd

Question 52

3 points + evidence that opinion polls are bad for democracy

Answer 52

* Opinion polls do not always accurately represent public opinion, so can gi e misleading information - 56 opinion polls indicated remain would win, giving cameron false confidence * Undermine conviction politicianns by encouraging politicans to support policies that they feel will gather support * if a general election is seen to be a foregone conclusion, it discourages turnout as seen in 2001.