VOTING BEHAVIOUR xo

Question 1

INTRODUCTION

Answer 1

Pulzer once described class as the “Basis of British Party politics” but this is no longer the case. Voting behaviour in the UK has changed and this essay will discuss to what extent different voting theories can best explain this change. This essay will discuss rational choice, sociological model and party Identification models. It will argue that the sociological model is relevant only to an extent, and that RCT is more significant.

Question 2

RCT- (P)

Answer 2

One theory that explains the way the electorate vote in elections is The rational choice model

Question 3

RCT - (EX)

Answer 3

it assumes that voters judge political parties either on their performance in government or on their potential performance; this allows for influence and so shapes the result of an election more than traditional factors such as class or gender

Question 4

RCT - (E)

Answer 4

For example, in the 2015 General Election 34% of voters said that they would possibly change their vote before election day.

Question 5

RCT - (A)

Answer 5

This highlights that the Rational Choice Model is relevant in explaining how people vote as a growing number of voters are willing to change their vote and therefore parties have to appeal to them through issues rather than expecting to vote based on other factors such as class or age

Question 6

RCT - (R)

Answer 6

However the Rational Choice Model is less relevant as voters will vote based upon the leader and not the party and its policies

Question 7

RCT - (E)

Answer 7

This means that voters will look at the party leader as a leader and a person and cast their vote upon that person rather than the party an example of this is Ed Millband , Labour, was seen as awkward and geeky, Gaff Prone and unsure at times this meant for Labour to lose votes and then the election.

Question 8

RCT - (A)

Answer 8

This shows that the Rational choice model is weak as many voters won’t vote for parties based on policies and ideals but rather for the leader themself.

Question 9

SM - (P)

Answer 9

Another theory of voting behaviour is the sociological theory which suggests that people vote according to long term factors such as social class and gender

Question 10

SM - (EX)

Answer 10

Within the 2017 General elections men are predominantly more likely to vote for parties such as the conservatives whereas women were evenly split between Labour and conservative.

Question 11

SM - (E)

Answer 11

For example, in the 2017 General election women were split 43% for Labour and 43% Conservatives, and men had 39% for Labour and 45% Conservative.

Question 12

SM - (A)

Answer 12

This shows that areas of the sociological model like gender have effect on the election outcome to a small extent.

Question 13

SM - (R)

Answer 13

However, this theory is less relevant especially when looking at social class.

Question 14

SM - (E)

Answer 14

This can be seen in the 2017 General election where the higher classes vote for conservative where higher than Labours ( Conservative , 46%, Labour, 38%) however in the lower classes conservative votes were also higher than Labours.(conservative 44%, Labour 42%)

Question 15

SM - (A)

Answer 15

This shows that the sociological model is less relevant as it has little effects on election votes and therefore outcomes.

Question 16

PID - (P)

Answer 16

A third theory is the party identification model.

Question 17

PID - (EX)

Answer 17

This model argues that voters will align themselves to a party and will vote for them no matter what. Voters consider themselves ‘supporters’ of their party and very rarely let their policies influence their vote as they are loyal supporters of the party no matter how they perform. People will often vote for the party that their parents vote for as its what they grew up knowing.

Question 18

PID - (E)

Answer 18

mple, In 2017 a social attitudes survey asked people if they identified with a party. Only 12% said they did not identify with any party – so 78% do identify with a party to an extent.

Question 19

PID - (A)

Answer 19

This suggests that the PID model can explain the behaviour of voters who do not vote along class/age lines but also those who do not vote due to rational choice of policies or leaders

Question 20

PID - (R)

Answer 20

However, the PI model does not always help to explain how people vote

Question 21

PID - (EX)

Answer 21

As with the sociological model, a process of partisan (party-supporting) dealignment is evident.

Question 22

PID - (E)

Answer 22

At the 1964 general election, about 48% of people said they identified with a party “very strongly.” In 2015, this figure was 17%.

Question 23

PID - (A)

Answer 23

This shows that party alignment is becoming less relevant as people are less likely to vote for a party just because they have supported it for their whole life.

Question 24

CONCLUSION

Answer 24

n conclusion, the rational choice model of voting behaviour is the most dominant theory that explains how people will vote in elections as voters are more likely to.
On the one hand, due to an increase in political knowledge due to the internet, RCT is now the most relevant. At the same time, class dealignment has weakened the link between social class and voting behaviour. This means voters are much more volatile than previously so there is an increase in the number of floating voters who are likely to be attracted to short-term factors. For example, in the 2017GE there were significant changes in support for the main parties during the campaign due to the effectiveness of Labour’s campaign, the poor reaction to Conservative manifesto policies and improving perceptions of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. On the other hand, the sociological model was dominant pre-1970’s but it has declined in importance due to class dealignment and the electorates’ increase in political literacy. Party identification is also less relevant as there has been a decline in the long-term attachment voters have to a political party. Overall, this means that RCT is the most effective voting theory.