Politics: UK elections and referendums
arguments for reforming westminster system/against FPTP
1)issue of proportionality....
2)Alternative systems work well elsewhere in the UK
3)greater range of parties representated under list pr system
Against the use of referendums
1)Blunt instrument - do not settle issues clarly or deciselvely in comparison to elected reps who can debate and decide refinements....
2)undermines represntative government - uk trad relies on representative parliamentary government not direct democracy...
3) tyranny of majority when extended to broader social issues...
Advantages of referendums
1)purer form of democracy = engage voters in political decision making over specific issues + promotes partivipation amongst groups that are less politically active...
2)can absorb division within parties e.g. conservatives over europe, many mps performed the delegate model to uphold the interest of their voters and invoke article 50....
role of media in Elections - 1979
Sun switched support from labour to conservatives - vote for maggie. express - 'maggie all the way'....
role of media in elections - 1997
press more positive about blair and new labour, blair and rupert murdoch....
role of media in elections - 2019
boris declined andrew neil interview, tory strategists believed....
1979 election - voting behaviour
Patterns of voting behaviour:
-all ages more likely to vote conservatives apart from 18-24 year olds
1979 election - Impact of party policies and manifesto
Impact of party policies and manifesto:
-focus on lowering unemplyment, getting economy going again & preventing strike disruption
-conservative tax cuts and right to buy scheme were popular wiht voters
1979 election - influence of media
-cons campaign allowed advertising agency satchi & satchi to polish thatcher's public image due to her hard hitting policy conventions - by softening her voice to appear friendly and tatvher also demonstrated popularism when convincing working class housewives that she was one of them
1979 election - impact of camapigns and leadership:
-successful 'labour isnt working ' campaign by cons focused on high unemployment
-tatcher relatively uknown compared to callaghan = british voters had no model for what a female pm would look/sound like
1979 election - impact of election on policy making
-Tacther's win allowed her to privatise public industries, reducing union strikes and adopting a more monetarist economic policy
-policies became even bolder after her landlside win in 83 (144 seats) - 1990 poll tax
1997 election - context
-cons in power since 1979 and pm john major govt was tainted by financial and sex scandals
-blair defeated major cons party after 18 year rule, rewrote clause iv and now embraced left wing social justice and right wing free market
1997 election - result
-labour landslide - 179 seat majority 63% seats
-best labour result ever
-record of 120 female mps
1997 election - voting behaviour
-labour big gains among middle class - lab promiosed to tackle crime esepecially amongst younger people.
(Also emphasised redcucing unemployment which gained attention due to recession in 80s/90s
-all ages likely to vote lab apart from over 65s
-70% of bame support labv compared to 43% of white voters
1997 election - impacts of campaigns and leadership
-negative campaigning from con 'new labour, new danger' while labour slogan promised changed because 'britain deserves better'
-43, blair younger than any other pm since 1812, lacked experience but was charisamtic which appealewd to voters.
1997 election - impact of election on policy
blairs majority allowed him to employ wide range of policies including devolution, removal of hereditary peers, hra 1998, freedom of info
however also led to iraq war
Advantages of fptp
1)Simplicity - provides voters with a simple choice and process for deciding winner is ez to understand - winner take all
2)strong majority governments with a clear mandate from electorate to implement their manifesto committments - not the case with minority governments - 2010 & 2017
3)turnout is generally consistent - 2010 65.1%
- 2015 66.2%
- 2017 68.8%
- 2019 67.3%
AMS
-mixture of fptp and pr
-used for scottish & welsh parliament
-2 ballots papers, 2 votes
-73msps elected by fptp and 56 from second ballot
AMS Advantages
-voters have greater choice - split ticket voting allowed where a voter may use their constitutency vote to support candidate from one party and their list vote to support another party - more parties to win seats instead of dominant 2
- some parties used system to improve represntation of women e.g. zipping - alternating male and female candidates on party lists
disadvantage AMS
-party control over who is on the list and where is the list
-equal split between small parties can reduce their representation
Factors that can influence voting behaviour
1)gender - argued that women more likely to vote labour...
2)Social class - diff social classes vote on manifestos that will benefit them...
3)Age - older voters tend to be at the top of their earnings = vote for cons policies such as tax reduction...
4)media - can set the agenda, if media focus on a certain issue it can raise awareness and encourage public action
Characteristics of british general elections
Clear discrepency beetween number of votes and number of seats gained: 2015 - UKIP 3.9 mill votes = 1 seat
Green 1.1 mill votes = 1 seat
SNP 1.5 mill votes = 56 mps
election which outcome greatly influenced by leadership style
2017 : May choosing to fight elec based on her own 'strong and stable' leadership abilities = may failed to connect with voters
-Lost her majority after a campaign criticised for political mistakes, misjudged policies and refusal to appear in televised debates.
-contrast, corbyn's popularity surged particularly wiht young voters