Parry et all findings: 23.2% involved in variety of activities beyond voting, 51% limited participation to voting, 25.85% were inactive. – However was done in 1980.
Socialisation: Family take part in politics than your politics to take part in politics.
Disenchantment: people lose trust and faith in those who govern (leads to apathy which is damaging)
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“Americans of all ages, of all stations in life, and all types of disposition are forever forming associations” Alexis de Tocqueville We are SOCIAL BEINGS
- However, a trend of declining social participation has been identified Robert Putnam (Bowling Alone 2000)
Does it matter that Politics is in decline?
- Edmund Burke; “It is necessary only for the good man to do nothing for evil to triumph”
- John Stuart Mill; “ the general or prevailing opinion in any subject is rarely or never the whole truth; it is only by the collision of adverse opinions that the remainder of the truth has any chance of being supplied”
Crick Report: It is the duty and right of everyone to participate in politics.
What influences voting behaviour?
Long term: Class, Party alignment, Social structures (Race, religion) (More in America)
Short term: “It’s the economy stupid” (taxes, employment, civil services), Appeal of leaders (personal qualities), Mass Media (The Sun wot won it), Campaign (Labour isn’t working), Events leading to the elections (sleaze, Iraq War, Winter of Discontent, withdrawal from ERM and Falklands)
Four Theories of what influences:
Party Identification Theory: This is where parent’s party preference and ideology is passed down on to children. These also tend to be reinforced by social experiences (but mostly parent’s leanings. As a result of socialisation (parents, education influencing politics). Psychological attachment to party. Gone from 45% to 21% to 13% (2001). People often know who they’ll vote for between 18 – 24 – link party with event. PARTISAN ALIGNMENT (long term political party alignment)
The Sociological Theory: People’s social characteristics (mostly social class). Pulzer “Class is the basis of British politics; all else embellishment and detail”. (Middle class: Tory, Working: Labour). CLASS ALIGNMENT (link between class and political party). Gender, race, religion also involved in this theory. Decreasing.
The Rational Choice Theory: Based on Machiavellian view point of self-interest. Judgement based on past performance. Voters are consumers and they choose what benefits them most. Sanders (1996) said that economy influenced which one the consumer would buy. This meant that the parties put a lot of emphasis on image and view of past performance (of themselves and opposition) and change their policies so the electorate would like them. It is instrumental (based on one-off, not alignment). Very susceptible to press bias.
Dominant Ideology: Individual choices are made by media, (Dunleavey and Husbands). Society is dominated by dominant people (Marxist in nature), the media deciceds what is debated so things are overlooked and bias can be given to one side (very bad in age of no alignment).
Political Campaigning
Reinforce the view of those already committed, to get floating voters, convert wavers.
Essentially selling yourself, Takes loads of different forms (leafleting, adverts, posters)
1997 – Everyone was decided
2001 – Labour obvious win
2005 – dreary, trivial and nasty.
Opinion Polls – eections dominated by them, random sampling used.
50s and 60s – determined by class – becoming less of a trend
1992 – inaccurate.
2005 – fairly accurate
Advantages: Invokes interest and motivation to vote, determined party targets
Disadvantages: Helps decide when election is called, bandwagon effect, boomerang effect: people like the underdog. Complacency – no voting because you know your going to win.
Media Bias – through images, language, coverage, newspaper of itself.
Yes: Print: always state their support for one purpose, emotive headlines “Got’cha”, images, loaded words “surprise attack”, coverage given, satirical (Mock the Week), Rupert Murdoch
No: Pluralists; provide everyone with everything, papers disagree, media reflects racisl divide, competition laws, BBC/ITN: neutral charter
Impact of media: Germany 1930s (If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.)
Glasgow Media Group: Journalists set the agenda: Marxist (Dominant Theory) Elitis running the show.
We watch so much TV – there must be an effect but who knows? It would take to long and cost too much.
Second Order voting: Those that aren’t the general elections (which is first order). These are a chance for protest vote.
Features: lower turnout, anti-government swing, high support for minority parties
Local Elections:
- Basic, house, social services
- Not important (people): 30% turnout
- Voting is a representative of national picture
- 2007 outcome was a attack on Blair
- Labour lost 10, Tory gain: 47
Devolved Elections:
- In order of turnout: N.I Assembley, Scottish then Welsh
- 62%, 58% and 46%
- All use Proportional Representation
European Elections
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Shit → protest vote (anti-government and anti-euro)
- UKIP (only campaigners) – 9 seats
- Turnout is low
- Semi-PR means minority parties can get in
By-elections
- Dead people, unemployed or bums
- Reflection of national picture
- Those who don’t usually vote get their views heard
- Low turnout
- Small parties / Focus on personality
Do they matter?
- Voting behaviour is often so different to general elections they are often not a true reflection of what will happen.
- If the government has a small majority and they lose the seat then it can have an impact (by elections)
- If there are a series of by elections which the government loses it can send them a clear message.
Glenrothes By-elections
- Important in GB’s backyard, traditional labour place,
- Results showed positive response to Brown Bounce
- Rejection of Scotland stand-alone economic policy
- SNP – not as popular, out of touch (Alex),
- Labour won: visit from Brown and wife, economy, Mandelson, local head teacher
What are the key functions of elections?
- To choose representatives – b/c country divided into constituencies and representatives chosen by citizens in each.
- To choose govt & PM – party with maj. of seats e.g. Labour 60%
- The electorate gives permission to the governing party to carry out the policies in their manifesto i.e. their mandate.
- An example of political participation. By exercising a choice between different political parties it gives us the power to decide in which direction the country will go.
What are the four types of different systems?
- Plurality – it is not necessary to get over 50% of the vote to win a seat e.g. FPTP.
- Majoritarian system – the winning candidate needs to get over 50% of the vote e.g. AV, SV
- Proportional system – votes equate to seats e.g. List system, STV
- Hybrid system – combines aspects of both Majoritarian and proportional e.g. Additional member system, AV
Where is each system used in the UK?
- FPTP – in general elections.
- SV – for elected mayor of London.
- Additional member system – for electing Scottish Parliament, Irish, Welsh and London Assembly.
- List system – for European elections.
- STV – in N. Ireland.
How does the FPTP system work?
- The country is divided into 659 single-member constituencies.
- Within each constituency each person eligible to vote will have ONE vote.
- The winning candidate must get more votes than each of the other candidates, but need not achieve 50% of votes.
- The political party with the most winning candidates, and therefore seats, goes on to form the government.
What are the arguments in favour of FPTP?
- It is simple to understand in relation to other systems i.e. voters have one choice only.
- The voter can express a view on which party should form the next govt.
- Creates strong and decisive govt and no need for coalitions which can be problematic.
- It provides a strong link between the MP and their constituency in relation to multi-member systems.
- The winning party can claim a mandate in terms of seats.
- Can contain extremist parties, stopping parties like the BNP from holding any power.
What are the weaknesses of FPTP?
- Over-representation of the winning party e.g. Labour only won 40% of votes, but have 60% seats.
- Under-representation of other parties e.g. Lib Dems b/c of regional bias.
- Wasted votes are an issue because if you do not vote for the winning candidate your vote does not count for anything e.g. 1997, 48.2% of those who voted cast ineffective votes.
- Lack of voter choice – party picks candidates and you can only vote for one. If the candidate selected for the party you wish to vote for holds views you strongly oppose it is difficult to choose.
- Tactical voting – voting for the least objectionable candidate, or intentionally voting against a particular candidate.
How does the AV system work?
- The country is divided usually into single member constituencies.
- Voters would rank their candidates in order of preference (1 being their favourite etc)
- If a candidate receives an absolute majority of votes (50% + 1) he/she would be elected.
- However if no single candidate gets more than 50%, the candidate with the lowest number of first preferences is "eliminated" from the count, and their ballot examined for their second preferences.
- These are then assigned to the remaining candidates in the order as marked on the ballot.
- This process is repeated until one candidate has an absolute majority, and is declared duly elected.
What are the arguments in favour of AV?
- The bond between members and their constituencies is retained.
- It produces strong and decisive government and coalitions, if ever formed, would be strong.
- All MPs would have the support of the majority of their constituents.
- It prevents MPs from being elected on a minority vote.
- Less need for negative/tactical voting.
- Less wasted votes.
What are the weaknesses of AV?
- It does very little to those who are traditionally under-represented in parliament.
- There is no transfer of powers from party authority to the voters b/c there is no choice of candidates, and it does not produce a proportional parliament.
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2nd/3rd party could gain support on 2nd/3rd preferences as they are least objectionable, but not first choice.
How does the SV system work?
- The country is divided into single member constituencies.
- Voters in each constituency have two votes.
- Voters’ first preferences are counted and if one candidate gets over 50% of the vote he/she is elected.
- If, however, no candidate manages to win 50% of the vote the two highest scoring candidates are retained – the rest are eliminated.
- The second preferences are then examined and any votes received by the two remaining candidates are redistributed. Whoever now has over 50% of the vote, wins.
What are the advantages of SV?
- There is still a link between constituents and MPs.
- It overcomes one of the flaws of the AV system; as it is between the first two parties, it is guaranteed that the one elected based on second preference votes has a majority of first preference votes.
- It ensures majority support of the winner and creates strong government.
- It reduces the number of wasted votes.
What are the disadvantages of SV?
- Smaller parties do not have much of a voice – there is still a lot of under-representation.
- Votes do not equate to seats – often there is over-representation of the winning party.
- Tactical voting could still be an issue.
How does STV work?
- The country is divided into multi-member constituencies. These constituencies would be much larger than in FPTP and would return more than one representative.
- Parties can put up as many candidates as they like and voters have the opportunity to rank all candidates in order of preference.
- Seats are allocated on a quota system. For each constituency, all candidates who meet the quota are elected.
- Candidates who reach the quota on first preferences are elected. If after this seats are still available then a process of redistribution takes place.
- The surplus votes of those already elected are redistributed to other candidates until all seats are filled.
What are the advantages of STV?
- Gives a much better fit between votes and seats than the FPTP system. Therefore is fairer to smaller parties.
- Multi-member constituencies mean that a higher proportion of constituents will feel they have a representative from the party of their choice.
- No need for tactical voting – voters can cast a positive vote in the knowledge that their vote will not be wasted.
- Governments are strong and stable b/c founded on the majority support of the electorate.
What are the disadvantages of STV?
- Still not exactly proportional.
- Breaks the link between an individual MP and his/her constituents.
How does the Party List system work?
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Closed party list – each party’s list of candidates, ranked according to the party’s preference, is published on the ballot paper.
- Voters simply vote for the party, they have no say as to which candidates are elected.
- After voting is complete, all votes are counted and each party receives seats in the constituency in the same proportion as it won in that constituency.
- A quota, or number of votes required to win a seat, is calculated for that constituency.
- Those who become the party’s MPs will be those placed highest in the party list.
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Open party list – the voter can vote either for the list as published, or for an individual candidate, wherever the candidate appears on the party list.
- Seats are allocated according to the number of quotas won.
What are the arguments in favour of the Party List system?
- It is the fairest in terms of party representation. If a party receives 32% of the vote it will receives 32% of the seats in Parlt.
- Simple for voters to understand.
What are the weaknesses of the Party List system?
- With closed party lists, voters have little or no effective choice over candidates, only control over which party is in govt.
- The large constituencies give little chance for accountability to voters and no local connection between members and constituents.
- Could give rise to multi-party coalitions – not v. strong govt.
- Gives smaller, more extreme parties a chance.
How does the Additional Member system work?
- The country is divided into single-member constituencies AND regions
- Each voter has two votes, one for a single MP via FPTP, and one for a regional or national party list.
- Half the seats or more are allocated to the single-member constit. Part and the rest to the party list.
- Additional members are decided on proportional basis by comparing the no. of constituency seats won to the no. of party votes achieved. Parties who have performed well on party list but not on constit. element will be given additional seats.
What are the arguments in favour of the Additional Member system?
- Less under-representation of smaller parties.
- It retains a number of single-member constituencies. Therefore keeping the strong link between MPs and constituents.
- It has produced strong and stable govts in Germany (however, not single-party govts).
- The separation of the vote allows the voter to express personal support for a candidate without necessarily helping that candidate’s party.
What are the weaknesses of the Additional Member system?
- It combines many of the faults of FPTP with many of the defects of the list system.
- Half of all MPs are not directly accountable to any voters, just to party leadership and have no constituency. i.e. two types of MPs.
- The parties would retain power over selecting candidates for constituency seats.
How does the Second Ballot system work?
- The country is divided into single-member constituencies.
- Voters have one vote, choosing their favourite candidate.
- If one candidate gets over 50% on first ballot, they are selected.
- If this does not occur then there is a second ballot. In this ballot, the two strongest candidates can remain in the contest, or only those who have reached a threshold vote.
- The winning candidate on the second ballot is the candidate who is elected.
What are the advantages of the Second Ballot system?
- Maintains link between MP & constituent.
- Likely that the winning candidate will have over 50% of support.
- Will produce strong and decisive govt.
- More voter choice due to second vote.
- Fewer wasted votes as people encouraged to be more decisive.
What are the disadvantages of the Second Ballot system?
- Still not proportional.
- Doesn’t automatically guarantee over 50% majority.
- Often second ballot has low turnout.
How does AV+ work?
- Country divided into constituencies and regions.
- Every voter gets two votes – one vote for constit. Candidate (ranked, AV system used) and one for party “top-up” MPs.
- Top-up votes go to political parties who are under-represented on constit. element. (So the number of party votes achieved, compared to number of seats won).
- In this system there is an open list system.
What are the arguments in favour of AV+?
- Clearer mandate b/c winning candidate has at least 50% of support in constituency element.
- There is greater voter choice and less wastage of votes – however it is not completely eliminated.
- It is a broadly proportional system.
- Produces strong, decisive govt – if coalitions, only 2/3 parties so more stable type of coalition.
What are the weaknesses of AV+?
- As with AMS, there will be two categories of MPs.
- Still not proportional.
- Not in operation anywhere, therefore cannot observe its results.
What impact have the different electoral systems used in the UK had on party representation?
- AMS is more proportional than FPTP therefore better representation of smaller parties e.g. in Scotland there is a LibLab coalition.
- Support for Labour maintained as they still receive constituency seats under the AMS system. Do not have overall majority however – LibLab coalition.
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Conservatives in Wales are 3rd party so receive 3rd most amount of seats. Reflective of ranking rather than being unproportional.
- STV system allowed numerous smaller parties to obtain seats. Given rise to wider range of party representation and much closer fit between votes and seats.