Voting Behaviour (Psephology)

Question 1

What is voting behaviour?

Answer 1

Voting behaviour simply refers to how different people vote

Question 2

What is Psephology?

Answer 2

The analysis of why people vote the way they do. The term was coined by W.F.R Hardie in 1948 and voters are placed into categories to allow for comparison.

Question 3

What is the Etymology of “Psephology”

Answer 3

It stems from the ancient Greek “Psephos”, meaning pebble and refers to the way in which citizens of Athens voted using different coloured pebbles.

Question 4

What are the 2 types of factors affecting voting behaviour?

Answer 4

Primacy factors - These factors refer to long term factors, such as social class, age and ethnicity

Recency factors - These factors refer to the short term factors affecting voting behaviour, such as the economy and political party leadership.

Question 5

Name 5 factors affecting voting behaviour and categorise them into recency and primacy factors

Answer 5

The economy - Recency
Party campaigns - Recency
Class - Primacy
Gender - Primacy
Age - Primacy

Question 6

Primacy factor of geography

Answer 6

Rural-Urban divide: Rural areas are more homogenous and older on average (Public Health England, 2017)

Impact on political beliefs: Rural areas lean right (Con), while urban cores lean left (Lab)

Evidence:

Kenny & Luca (2020): “Compared to dwellers in urban cores, respondents living in rural areas are systematically more likely to identify as right-wing”

Richmond (Yorks) - Con since 1910
Liverpool Walton - Lab since 1964

However point: Kensington, urban, held by Con for 14 years from 2010-2024.