The effects of media in politics

Question 1

When did voter turnout begin to drop sharply?

Answer 1

1992

Question 2

What were the concerns raised by low turnout?

Answer 2

democratic legitimacy and public engagement

Question 3

What are some of the arguments for the decline in voter turnout?

Answer 3

-sleaze and a negative culture spread by the media have turned people away from politics
-the growth in issues and parties has made elections less clear cut and difficult to understand
-since the resignation of Thatcher, the two main parties have reached a consensus on several key issues
-Partisan dealignment
-FPTP alienates the electorate because it isn’t proportional
-declining education standards means people are less aware of their civic responsibilities

Question 4

Why is ‘FPTP alienates the electorate because it isn’t proportional’ not a strong argument for the decline in turnout?

Answer 4

An alternative voting system was rejected in a referendum vote in 2011 and turnout is even lower in UK elections which use other voting systems?

Question 5

Why is ‘sleaze and a negative culture spread by the media have turned people away from politics’ not a strong argument for the decline in turnout?

Answer 5

Sleaze and scandals have existed in politics for many years . Turnout was not damaged by the Profumo affair in the 60s and was still at 71.4% in 1997, after 5 years of sleaze reporting

Question 6

Why is ‘the growth in issues and parties has made elections less clear cut and difficult to understand’ not a strong argument for the decline in turnout?

Answer 6

People tend to cast their vote on the one or two relevant issues which are most important to them , so the fact there are more issues isn’t relevant

Question 7

Why is ‘since the resignation of Thatcher, the two main parties have reached a consensus on several key issues’ not a strong argument for the decline in turnout?

Answer 7

Labour shifted further left under Brown, Miliband and Corbyn, making a much clearer distinction

Question 8

Why is ‘partisan dealignment’ not a strong argument for the decline in turnout?

Answer 8

Party loyalty may have declined, but people still engage through pressure groups and campaigns, yet they do not vote in elections

Question 9

What may have been the reason for such a low turnout in 2001?

Answer 9

Labour were still very popular and the Conservatives remained deeply divided over Europe, which explains the low turnout as voters felt like they had a lack of choice

Question 10

Arguments that politicians are to blame for the declining turnout

Answer 10

-they have failed to inspire the public
-scandals and corruption has turned people away from politics
-negative campaigning and adversarial politics have alienated many people

Question 11

Arguments that politicians are not to blame for the declining turnout

Answer 11

-if the public are not happy with what is on offer, they need to make their voices heard rather than stay silent
-The media are responsible for undermining respect in UK politics
-Low turnout reflects social and generational changes that politicians can do little about

Question 12

Why was there an early election in 79?

Answer 12

Vote of no confidence for the Callaghan government

Question 13

What were some of the key issues going into the 1979 election?

Answer 13

How would the economic decline affect the vote?
What impact would growing trade union strife have?
Would new right policies from the Conservatives alienate voters?
Would the public vote for a female leader?
Would the Labour be damaged by its extreme left component?

Question 14

What were Labour’s key policies going into the 79 election?

Answer 14

Focused on its ability to deal with trade unions and the experience of Callaghan. It adopted a moderate financial course and kept the left silent

Question 15

What were the Conservative’s key policies going into the 79 election?

Answer 15

Focused on ‘Labour isn’t working’
It proposed the right to buy scheme in housing and promised tax cuts

Question 16

How did the mass media affect the 79 election in ways it has never affected election campaigns before

Answer 16

-press conferences were timed to provide stories for the midday news
-afternoon walkabouts by leaders were designed to coincide with the early evening news
-major speeches were timed to catch the evening news

Question 17

What type of politics was shown not to be liked in 79?

Answer 17

adversarial politics

Question 18

Despite the disliking of adversarial politics in 79, what kind of political leadership style was the campaign embodying?

Answer 18

A presidential style with most the campaigns focusing on the two leaders

Question 19

What did the presidential style campaign in 79 lead to?

Answer 19

Raising of ‘The Thatcher factor’- whether her gender and personality would cause voter resentment. This seemed significant as the constant comparing of the two leaders meant that the Conservatives lost some of its lead in the polls. This is because Thatcher was considered to be:
-less experienced
-less in touch with ordinary people
-more extreme and condescending
-a women

Question 20

What parts of both parties were rarely heard in the 79 election?

Answer 20

The radical side, meaning there was little distinction between the two main parties as they focused on centered politics

Question 21

How did the campaign of the two main parties change in 83?

Answer 21

they moved to the radical sides of their party

Question 22

What Conservative policy in 79 proved popular with the C2 class?

Answer 22

right to buy and tax cuts

Question 23

In 79, what came as a more important element to voters than policies?

Answer 23

the mood of the ‘winter of discontent’

Question 24

How did opinion polls affect the 79 election?

Answer 24

the closing gap between the two main parties encouraged Labour supporters, while Conservatives became increasingly concerned about their policies. As such, the closing gap in turnout may have helped boost turnout for the Conservatives

Question 25

What were the key issues of the 97 election?

Answer 25

How would the economic crisis and being ejected from the ERM affect the economic reputation of the Conservatives
Would the third way appeal to moderate voters but still enthuse the left
How may the divide over Europe in the Conservative party affect the vote?

Question 26

What were the Conservatives key policies in the 97 election?

Answer 26

They wanted to focus on economic recovery , but internal divisions and the presence of a referendum party meant the issue of the EU dominated the Conservative campaign, leaving labour free to present its third way economics

Question 27

What were Labour’s key policies in the 97 election?

Answer 27

Focused on reassurances about the economy and 5 specific pledges:
-cut class sizes in schools
-introduce a fast track punishment system for young offenders
-cut NHS waiting lists
-to get 250,000 unemployed under 25s into work
-to cut VAT on heating and not raise income tax

Question 28

What was the 97 campaign focus on?

Answer 28

The leaders as they toured marginal seats on buses and planes

Question 29

What were the slogans of the three parties in 97?

Answer 29

conservatives: ‘you can only be sure with the conservatives’
Labour: ‘because Britain deserves better’
Lib Dem: ‘make the difference’

Question 30

What was Labour’s 97 campaign like?
What did the Conservatives try to highlight about Labour?

Answer 30

Strictly controlled from Millbank Media Centre, organised by Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Alastair Campbell
The Conservatives highlighted the dangers of Blair, as he restored powers to the trade unions and was not deemed as trustworthy

Question 31

What were some of the issues of the 97 campaign?

Answer 31

-Sleaze, referring to the record of sex scandals and financial corruption among the Conservatives
-Devolution and NI peace process, with Labour promising to promote decentralization and make the UK more democratic, while the Conservatives warned that these reforms would be a disaster for the UK. With 3 days to go in the campaign, they announced they had ‘72 hours to save the union’

Question 32

What was the impact of the 97 election?

Answer 32

-Marked a turning point in British politics
-after years of sleaze, a generally negative campaign drew high levels of cynicism towards all politicians.
-People saw little difference between the two main parties, leading to a rise in disillusion and apathy (further exaggerated by the fact opinion polls suggested substantial Labour win)
-disciplined messages made leaders sound like robots
-rise in US style partisan claim and counter claim advertising, which bought a more negative and confrontational style of campaigning to the UK

Question 33

How did social factors affect the 97 election?

Answer 33

Location: Labour bucked the trend of a Labour North and Conservative south as Conservative were wiped out in Wales and Scotland
Class: Labour gained support across all classes, especially C1+2
Gender: Labour closed the gender gap
Age: Labour won every age group bar 65+
Ethnicity: Labour beat the Conservatives among white voters, gaining 43% of the white vote, along with 70% of BAME

Question 34

What were the key issues before the 2010 election?

Answer 34

-How damaging was the recession to the Labour party?
-Had David Cameron done enough to detoxify the Conservatives
-What role would the first ever leaders debate have?
-What role would UKIP and other minor parties play?

Question 35

How did the TV debate influence the campaign in 2010?

Answer 35

Nick Clegg was hugely successful in the TV debate, which saw him top most winner’s polls, raised his profile and led to genuine three party reporting across the press, as well as the phrase “I agree with Nick”, which stemmed from the repeated attempts of Gordon Brown to align himself with Clegg during the debate

Question 36

What were the key issues before the 2010 election?

Answer 36

-How damaging was the recession to the Labour party?
-Had David Cameron done enough to detoxify the Conservatives
-What role would the first ever leaders debate have?
-What role would UKIP and other minor parties play?

Question 37

How did the financial crisis influence all the parties’ policies in the 2010 campaign?

Answer 37

There was very little anyone could do in terms of eye-catching policies, as all acknowledged cuts would need to be made

Question 38

How did campaign funding differ between the main parties in 2010?

Answer 38

The Conservatives benefitted from greater financial resources, spending more than four times as much as Labour. Labour had to cut its spending by two-thirds from 2005 and instead it relied on a large number of committed activists

Question 39

Who did the newspapers support in 2010?

Answer 39

Media support swung decisively behind the Conservatives with only the Mirror backing Labour

Question 40

What was the impact of the 2010 election?

Answer 40

It confirmed we have a multi-party system

Question 41

How did social factors sway the 2010 election?

Answer 41

Location: The Conservatives gained votes in southern England - mainly those lost in 97
Class: Conservatives saw a strong swing from C1+2
Gender: Males favored Conservatives while women favored Labour and Lib Dem
Age: Conservative won all age groups bar 18-24. Labour won 18-24, though support was evenly distributed among the three parties
Ethnicity: Conservative had the most white voters and Labour the most BAME, while Lib Dem was evenly split

Question 42

What were the main issues of the 2019 election?

Answer 42

-Brexit: what form should it take, second referendum, no deal Brexit?
-how would the public react to Corbyn’s leadership, especially after allegations of anti-semetism
-What impact would a winter election have on campaigning and turnout?

Question 43

What were the parties different stances on Brexit in 2019 election?

Answer 43

Conservatives said they were ready to get it done and had an oven done deal
Lib Dems proposed to repeal Article 50 if elected
Labour proposed renegotiation and a potential second referendum

Question 44

What was the key focus of the 2019 campaign?

Answer 44

Despite much apathy towards it and the general public just wanting it to be solved, the campaign almost always came back to Brexit

Question 45

What was the style of the 2019 leadership campaign?

Answer 45

Incredibly presidential with the vote being presented as a clear choice between two leaders rather than parties

Question 46

What was the impact of the 2019 election?

Answer 46

Continued support for a two party system
The Conservative vote rose slightly, but a collapse in the Labour vote was noticeable, especially in the ‘red-wall’ of the north. These regions turned to Conservatives over the issue of Brexit, showing how out of touch Labour leadership had become with ordinary voters outside major cities. It was Labour’s worst performance since 1983 and the first time since 2005 that a single party won an election with a decisive majority

Question 47

What prevented an even more decisive result for the Conservatives in 2019?

Answer 47

The Brexit party split the pro-Brexit vote in some northern, where the combined vote of Brexit and Conservatives would have been enough to beat Labour

Question 48

Were the televised leaders debates important in the 2010 election campaign? Arguments for…

Answer 48

-They raised the profile of Nick Clegg
-David Cameron lost vital support
-They became the main ‘event’ of the election campaign and concentrated media attention

Question 49

Were the televised leaders debates important in the 2010 election campaign? Arguments against…

Answer 49

-shifts in the polls were marginal in the debate
-they don’t appear to have altered the election results
-the second and third debates made little impact and few headlines

Question 50

Why are opinion polls used?

Answer 50

-test key policies, leadership performance and the success of a campaign
-Used by the media as a starting point for political discussion and reporting

Question 51

What are the benefits of opinion polls if they are doe well taking into account a cross section of society?

Answer 51

Polls can be useful tools to help parties tailor their policies and messages to a key target demographic to ensure they appeal to voter’s concerns

Question 52

What are the negatives of opinion polls if they aren’t done well?

Answer 52

They can misrepresent public opinion and can affect the way in which people vote

Question 53

What was the role of opinion polls in the 2015 election?

Answer 53

Showed a tight race between the two parties. This drove media speculation about the possibility of a Miliband government and suggested a hung parliament

Question 54

What were the possible effects of opinion polls in 2015?

Answer 54

-some voters may have employed tactical voting by voting for Conservative instead of UKIP in order to prevent a labour-SNP coalition and many lib Dems may have voted for the Conservatives as the lesser of the two evils
-Conservatives may have been more motivated to turnout
-People may have been more willing to vote UKIP or SNP with the view they may form a coalition government

Question 55

What is the traditional role of the media?

Answer 55

-report accurately on political events
-act as a check to scrutinise the government
-investigate controversies
-educate the public and explain the potential impact of various options available
-act as a bridge between the elected and the electorate

Question 56

How has the role of the media changed?

Answer 56

-press has become overly partisan, leading to mockery
-created a national mood against politicians as they focus on scandals
-make leaders celebrities rather than people with a job to do
-made entertainment out of politics
-created sensational stories to fit constant 24-hour news broadcasting
-social media has meant parties have lost control over the agenda

Question 57

What does the electoral dominance of the Conservatives and Brexit suggest about the BBC?

Answer 57

it suggests that if there is a liberal bias in the bbc, then it has not had a dramatic impact on voting behaviour. This leads to a crucial point, which is bias is not the same as influence

Question 58

What is an argument against newspapers having influence over electoral results?

Answer 58

It is possible that newspapers are simply reflecting the views of their readers. For example, the Sun’s front page warned: “Don’t chuck Britain in the cor-bin’ but 30% of their viewers still voted Labour

Question 59

How has the type of media influencing people changed?

Answer 59

It used to be newspapers with the most influence, but readership has declined 50% since 2010, meaning new forms of media are having a greater effect like social media