Question 2: Explain the functions of political parties in the British democratic process.
Political parties exist because they perform functions which are crucial to the workings of the political system. The Governing function being a major one – British government is formed by a political party, the Prime minister being the leader of that party, and so political parties are vital to the process of government. There are other important functions, including: the Electoral function – political parties offer choice to the voter, choice being an important element in a truly democratic society. By forming according to similar ideologies, etc. parties offer a label to which the voter can identify these ideologies; there is also the Representative function – political parties reflect the views of the people and provide a platform for these to be heard; the Recruitment function – whereby political parties encourage people to become politically active, thus recruiting them into the political system and; the Communicative function – parties provide a means of communication between leaders and members, between members and the prospective electorate and between parties of opposing views.
Many of these functions are often performed most effectively by constituency parties at that level, i.e. providing a means of communication between party members and people within that local constituency, people becoming politically active within their constituency areas etc.
Political parties receive funding from a number of different sources, which can depend on the nature of the party itself (i.e. the Labour party traditionally receives a large portion of its funding from trade unions), but generally funding comes from individual and corporate donations, party membership fees, sponsorship and commercial events.
Question 3: Why do people vote the way they do? How, and to what extent, do factors such as class, sex, age, race, religion and region influence voting behaviour?
Many factors are said to influence voting behaviour, however in many areas the extent to which this is true is unclear. Possibly the most commonly thought factor which influences voting behaviour is class. Most would agree with the notion that working class people are more likely to vote Labour and that middle class people are more likely to vote conservative and, up until the late 1970’s there appeared to be statistical evidence of people voting for their traditional class party. Since then, the evidence for this has weakened significantly and class can only be considered as one of many suggestive factors. Those other factors could include age; there has been recent statistical evidence to show that around 40% of first time voters vote Labour (Crewe, 1992). There is also a notion that younger voters are more likely to vote ‘radically’, i.e. for the smaller, more ‘revolutionary’ parties (Green party, Socialist Labour Party, etc), however, some would argue that younger, more politically apathetic voters tend to vote (if they vote at all) for the party their parents/friends vote for, or whoever is already in power. Another factor in voting behaviour could be gender. In the general election held between 1979 and 1992 more women voted conservative than for any other parties. But why? It has been suggested that women experience less pro-Labour exposure – as this can be said to occur in the workplace, through trade unions, etc. and most women work part time in non-unionised jobs. Also, as women’s roles are traditionally as the ‘homemakers’, it has been argued that they uphold more traditional views on family and religion, etc. Views which also tend to be upheld by the Conservative party. However, this seems like a rather old-fashioned idea, and is somewhat unconvincing in light of today’s society.
Race, or Ethnicity, can also be an issue in voting behaviour; statistics have shown that Black and Asian people are more likely to vote Labour than they are Conservative (72% of ‘ethnic groups’ voted for Labour in 1987). It is not clear why this occurs, but the Conservative party’s traditionally right wing views are often associated with racism(some would sight links with the BNP), this in itself discouraging Black/Asian groups from voting Conservative. It could also be argued, particularly in recent times, that the media can play a sizeable part in influencing voting behaviour. For example, Labour most recent election campaign encouraged popular musicians, etc. to become involved in supporting the party, under the banner of Labours ‘cool Britannia’, perhaps in an attempt to encourage younger voters to vote for labour. Also, as the Prime Ministers role becomes more ‘presidential’ in style, the actions of the Prime Minister himself can shape voting – being seen in ‘the right place’ or doing ‘the right thing’ can be enough to win extra votes. Similarly, the success of the existing Prime Minister/government can be enough to win more supporters. If it seems that policy promises have been kept, and that the country is in a period of prosperity and has benefited from the leading parties rule, those who may not have voted for them before will be persuaded to change allegiance in light of their success. With this in mind, it is also the case that if a government have been seen to handle a main issue well (war, for example) this can result in a similarly persuasive effect, encouraging voters to ‘stick with’ the ruling party.
