Voting Behaviour & Media Flashcards
What are the arguments for social class remaining the main determinant of voting behaviour in UK?
- people vote for parties according to their class
- different turnout between classes
What are the arguments against social class remaining the main determinant of voting behaviour in UK?
- age
- region
- media
What are the voting statistics for the middle class (AB/C1) in 1979 and 2017?
- 1979, 59% Conservative
- 2017, 47% Conservative
What are the voting statistics for the semi/unskilled working class (DE) in 1979 and 2017?
- 1979, 59% Labour
- 2017, 38% Labour
Why do middle class vote Conservative?
- they have more money and property
- Conservatives have lower tax policies
Why do working class vote Labour?
- involved in trade unions and want be social care
- tax rich more which creates more for them
What was the turnout for the middle class (AB/C1) in 2017?
- 2017, 69%
What was the turnout for the semi/unskilled working class (DE) in 2017?
- 2017, 53%
Why do middle class turnout more?
- many of middle class are older people who are the most likely to vote because they have a strong sense of civic duty -
Why do working class turnout less?
- there is a growing sense of apathy that people feel there isn’t any point voting as they aren’t going to make a difference
- people in DE class, tend to use social media, which has encouraged slacktivism
what were the voting statistics for 18-24 year olds in 2017?
62% voted Labour
what were the voting statistics for 65+ year olds in 2017?
61% voted Conservative
why do young vote labour?
- tend to align more to their policies
- lower tuition fees + better social care
- also utilise social media more+better
why do old vote Conservative?
- older people tend to have more money and property
- this is because they have worked longer and have received inheritance
- conservatives have lower tax policies
What is the regional divide that divides voting in England called?
north - south divide
In 2015, which seats in the south weren’t conservative?
London and a few other constituencies
In 2015, which seats in the north weren’t labour?
Yorkshire and Berwickshire
What does the region voting show is the key to winning elections?
winning swing seats in the opposite area
why do south vote Conservatives ?
they are richer - 2/3 of wealth of England in South East
why do north vote Labour?
there a lot of heavy industries in north so a lot of works and trade unions
how does the media persuade the public? (e.g. 1983)
- 1983 Thatcher shown as professional + popular, Michael Foot as unpopular
what are newspapers a useful relfection of?
a reflection of public opinion - the winning party at each recent election was backed by the majority of the press
In 2010 + 2015, which was the only major paper to back Labour?
Daily mirror
What percentage of respondents said TV was the most influential source in the run-up the 2015 election?
62%
how many views did the first live TV debate get in 2010?
9.6M views
what has meant that focus on party leaders has increased?
de-alignment and media
how can leaders be accessible to the public ?
being telegenic and likeable
why do party leaders need to be trustworthy ?
voters need to believe what they say
what did gordon brown do in 2010?
called a woman ‘bigoted’
what is associated with leadership appeal?
how voters see the parties
in the 1990s how were the conservatives portrayed
the nasty party of the rich
what did David Cameron do the try and change the image of the Conservatives ?
from 2005 he moved to change the image.
more sympathy with minorities & under-privileged
Was David Cameron successful in changing the image of the Conservatives ?
to a extent.
2010 saw a 5% swing to the tories
what % of people said leadership had an impact in shaping their views?
38%
what is it important to do at TV debates?
address key questions and impress public
what shows TV debates are not wholly influential?
whilst Nick Clegg received an initial surge in the polls , as elections drew closer, dipped in polls again
how have newspaper sales decreased?
2015 sales 28% lower than in 2010
do newspapers always get it right?
No. 2017 papers backed tory landslide - sun “blue murder”
why are newspapers less important?
decreasing readership and they are heavily partisan
in which election did social media play its biggest role?
2017 election
who did Corbyn do an interview with? how many views?
JME and 350K views
which artists urged fans to vote Labour?
AJ tracey, novelist and stomzy
what % of vote did labour get for 18-24 y/o in 2017?
over 60%
how often did Theresa use FB ?
failed to use twitter or FB once to encourage young people to register to vote
what does increasing use of social media lead to?
increasing slacktivism
in 2014 Scottish referendum what % of tweets were supportive of yes campaign compared to actual result?
- 80% of tweets supportive of yes
- 45% people voted yes
