Voting Behaviour and The Media Flashcards
Class Dealignment
Class dealignment the process where individuals no longer identify themselves as belonging to a certain class and - in political terms - fail to make a class connection with their voting choice.
What is the sociological model in voting behaviour?
links voting behaviour to group membership. It suggests that electors tend to adopt a voting pattern that reflects the economic and social position of the group, or groups, to which they belong.This model therefore highlights the importance of social alignment, reflecting the various divisions and tensions within society.The most significant of these are social class, gender, ethnicity, religion and region
What two explanations are there for why these factors affect voting?
Two explanations have been advanced to explain why such factors affected voting. The first relies on the impact of socialisation, while the second emphasises rationality, in that people are believed to support the party that is most likely to advance the interests of their group.
What is the The party identification model?
based on the idea that people develop a sense of psychological attachment to a political party. Electors are thus seen as people who identify with a party, in the sense of being long-term supporters who regard the party as ‘their’ party.
How is voting a manifestation of partisanship?
rather than a product of calculation influenced by factors such as policies, personalities, campaigning and media coverage. This model places a heavy stress on early political socialisation, seeing the family as the principal means through which political loyalties are forged
What is the rational choice model?
voting is portrayed as a rational act that is undertaken on a strictly individual basis.
What is instrumental voting?
This is‘instrumental voting’, in that voting is seen as an instrumental act, a means to an end. In that sense, voters behave very much like consumers, the only difference being that instead of choosing between the goods and services on offer, they choose between the policy options available.
What is issue voting?
It suggests that parties can significantly influence their electoral performance by revising or reshaping the policies they advance.
Which gender has a higher tendency of voting labour?
Women
Why is there little evidence that people vote along with gender?
In the 1983 and 1987 general elections, when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister, there is conflicting evidence- with little clear evidence that women favoured a woman PM.
Why have women traditionally supported the conservatives more than men did?
may have been because women favoured a stable society and, as the main carers in most households, they responded to the traditional Tory emphasis on the family.
How did gender based voting decrease under blair?
Blair era the difference between male and female voting habits lessened, with younger women being slightly more likely than men to vote Labour. This may be because, by the 1990s, women were as likely as men to have a job outside the home, so their worlds became more similar.
What is a blair labour policy that would have appealed to both men and women?
the provision of free nursery places
How does age affect voting in women?
Older women are more likely to vote Conservative than younger women. In this sense they are similar to men. In the 2010 election 30 per cent of women aged 18-24 voted Conservative, while the corresponding figure for women over 55 was 42 per cent.
what is evidence that turnout does not differ significantly between men and women?
In the 2010 election, 66 per cent of men and 64 per cent of women voted. Turnout among men and women of the same social class was also strikingly similar.
How does age reflect your likeliness to vote conservative traditionally?
Is has been observed that the older one gets the more likely you are to vote Conservative.
What is evidence that voting isnt affected by the age of the leadership?
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was considerably older than Conservative leader Boris Johnson in the 2019 election, however the election was particularly focused on Brexit.
How did younger voters vote in 2019?
Younger voters as a whole were predominantly Remain. Remainers tended to be better educated and have a more optimistic view of the EU. The significant increase in young graduates may have contributed. Issues of national sovereignty were more important to older voters.
What issues do younger people tend to be more focused on?
Younger voters tend to be more focused on areas such as climate change and social justice where Labour is viewed more positively.
How and why have the voting tendencies amongst young people changed?
With changes to employment patterns, less job security and rising house prices, younger voters are often poorer and less likely to own their own home than many older voters. Labour has traditionally had a stronger appeal to low-income voters, and the Conservatives to homeowners and the better off.
What age groups are more likely to vote?
Older people
What does britain’s ageing population mean for democracy?
This means there are more older people and they are more likely to vote. Social platforms and online polling tend to focus on the young, which distorts the reality of what happens in the polling stations and might explain why the Labour Party often does worse than expected while the Conservative Party quite often does better.
what percent of over 65 year olds supported the conservatives in 2010?
44%
