2. Political Parties [Key Points] Flashcards
(35 cards)
What are the functions of a political party
FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL PARTIES : overview
- representation
- encourage participation
- formulate policy via manifesto
- recruiting office holders
- providing gov. With a winning party
Functions of political parties : examples
Representation [e.g 45 MPs define themselves as part of the LGBTQ - representing within parliament]
Participation [e.g Labour lowering its membership to £3 during 2015-2017 (Corbyn’s premiership) to attract more supporters]
Formulating Policy [e.g 2015 gen elec, NHS was a key battleground, so you had cons promising to give access o their GPs for 7 days a week and LAB promising that within 48hrs they’d be given an appointment]
Recruiting office holders [e.g before 2015 CONS activists in Thirsk and Malton didn’t allow their sitting MPs to gain as candidates]
Proving the government [e.g creating a winning party w generally its leader as PM and they remain in office so long they have the confidence of their party / 1990 Thatcher lost confidence in her party so they made her resin by going against her and replaced her w Major]
How has the funding of political party caused problems (undemocratic) ?
- Generally the most well funded party was CONS
- post New LAB, LAB has been traditionally funded by the Trade Unions (major in shaping their policies)
- Lib Dem’s have (generally been the least well funded party) often criticised their opponents of being bankrolled by the wealthy
Example.. BLAIR AND ECCLESTONE
- Blair faced criticism within months of becoming PM in 1997 following the revelation that Bernie ECCLESTONE, motor racing boss, had donated 1mil to LAB
- he was then forced to justify himself on TV, to which the money was subsequently returned
How has the funding of political party improved (democratic) ?
- passing of the 2000 POLITICAL PARTIES, ELECTIONS AND REFERENDUMS ACT implemented by Blair trying to fix or over come the Ecclestone perception
It consisted of :
- the party spending amount was capped to £30,000
- donos from individuals not on the electoral roll were banned
- created of an independent electoral commission to supervise spending on election campaigns
- donos £5,000+ had to be declared and spoken about in detail
Potential State funding REFORMS
Arguments FOR : State funding of parties
- parties play a significant role in making a representative democracy, so deserve public funding
- public funding would remove the great disparity in resources available to different sized parties [i.e it could help smaller parties]
- if state matched donos by party members, it could encourage participation by the public and recruitment to parties
- it would curb the possibility of private backers on party policy
Arguments AGAINST : State funding of parties
- increased state funding, could lead to increased state regulation and less party independence
- public funding could isolate parties from the wishes of the electorate
- tax payers would resent compulsory contributions to parties of which thy disapprove
- hard to decide how much support is needed to qualify for funding
Funding of the Conservative Party
- mostly funded by large corporations and individuals, small amount is raised through membership fees
- e.g 6 days in the lead up of 2017 election they received £3 million in donos
Controversies
- in 2018, it was revealed that in 2014 that the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, played tennis with a former Russian minister in return of £160,000 donation
- hence why indivuals were suspicious when Russian millionaires (with dual citizenship) donated
Funding of the Labour Party
- this party is predominantly funded by the trade unions (who consider themselves as different from corporate funding) / there corporate and individual funding is much lower than the CONS
- the amount that comes from membership fees has increased by a lot in the most recent years / due to the 2015 decrease in membership fees £3 by Milliband
Controversies
- there was also controversy when Blair was associated with the ‘cash for honours’ scandal
- e.g BLAIR AND ECCLESTONE
Ecclestone f1 racing donated £1mil to LAB, so that when smoking ads were banned in motor racing f1 was exempt. They both deny the relation. But it raises concerns as to whether party funding can cause corruption
Short Money
This funding is given to the HofC to balance work which is funded out for public spending for the governing party
Proposed by Edward Short, as he first proposed the payments
Cranbourne Money
This is annual payment given to opposition parties to carry out their roles (i.e scrutiny and active check and balance for government)
Named after Lord Cranbourne, who was leader of HofL when it was introduced
What are some cases against state ?
- people would rather prioritise other spending (i.e schools, hospitals and libraries)
- the state would have to also fund extremist parties
- state funding would entrench the advantage of the big parties
- some also argue that state funding would also separate parties form those who seek to represent
Conservative Party : Traditional
- traces its origins back to the Tory Party, a group of aristocrats with historical privileges of the Crown (17th century)
- Sir Robert Peel (1830s) evolved the party dedicated to defence of property and protection against ideological revolution / stresses the need to allow for an organic and gradual reform to prevent revolution
- the party was remarkably successful in 19th and 20th century, appealing the middle classes
Conservative Party : One Nation
- Advocated for by Benjamin Disraeli, who believed that the ‘natural leaders’ had an obligation to act benevolently towards the disadvantaged, in return for the acceptance of the right to rule.
- Continued Burke’s ‘nobles oblige’
- One nationisms thrived post Second World War when poverty struck individuals
Conservative Party : Thatcherism
- Thatcher gave her name to a more ideological form of conservatism - with its radical policy rejecting hr einstict of one nation conservatives to seek compromise
- She sought to reduce state intervention in the economy, she was a euro sceptic so wanted to reduce connection to the EU, wanted to restore order in society
- New right combined ….
Neo - conservatives like Robert Nozick, wanted the state to take a more authoritarian approach to morality and law and order / prioritise security over freedom ////
Neo-liberal like Ayn Rand, endorsed the free market and the rolling back of the state in peoples lives and businesses
Thatcherism : Policies and Promises
- control of public spending + cut taxes to provide to provide incentives for business leaders and to stimulate economic growth
- Privatisation of industries and services
- Legal limits of the power of trade unions
- Tough approach to law and order
- Desire to protect the nation against the EU
Conservative : Economic policy
- Since 20th century CONS has tended to be the party for laisezz-faire (minimal state intervention)
This slightly changed post war consensus when the party accepted a greater role for the state in the economy - Austerity implemented by Osbourne and Cameron due to the economic financial crisis 2008 / some regard ‘the big society’ for a smokescreen for cutting taxes
- In 2020 their response was more Keynesian economics, as they were forced to borrow lots of money for COVID 19 / pragmatic response to the pandemic
Conservative : Law and Order Policy
- During Thatcher, it represented itself as “prison works” adding an emphasis on tougher sentences and had a zero tolerance to crime
- However, this changed under Cameron as he seemed to take ea more liberal attitude to law and order, understanding young offenders in his speech, dubbed by the media “HUG A HOODIE”
- He understood that he must be tough on the sentencing (esp after the 2011 London riots) but also make sure they didn’t reoffend via ‘rehabilitation revolution’
- They also attempted to maintain a good relationship with law and order but post austerity, i.e the gov. Cut 20,000 officers after care on came into power
Conservatives : Foreign Policy
- Due to the fact that they favour a strong defence policy - thatcher had strong ties to Reagan, favouring to spend on military and arms, and development and maintainence of nuclear weapons
- The controversial aspect of foreign affairs would be the Uk’d relationships with the EU :
1970-80s -most members were supportive of the EEC
1990s - under thatcher became more eurosceptic and became much more divided under Major
2010s - Cameron tried to dismiss the issue as it was a turn off for the voters. But the rise in UKIP brought it to the forefront
2020s - after wining the election, Johnson made the CONS seem much more united
Conservative Party : Welfare
Initially, original CONS emphasised the importance of ‘nobles oblige’ [the social elite and an obligation to support the disadvataged in society]
[i.e CONS campaigned .against slavery .in favour for more generous law provision / whereas LIB DEMS said individuals would help themselves and legislate of maters like labour or slavery]
New right, emphasises a Neo liberal approach, non interventionists - as they argued perverse incentives (creates a dependency culture)
2019 - Conservatives put NHS at the heart of their campaign, spoke about greater investment, which attracted traditional labour voters
2020 - response to Covid / ‘universal credit’ implemented 2013 intended to simplify the welfare system and encourage low-income people to take up employment
Labour Party : Old Labour
Founded in 1900, by socialist societies and trade unions, purpose was to get more working class MPs. 1918 saw them adding clause IV committing to ‘common ownership’. Aims to nationalise key interests
Established the welfare state and the ties to the NHS post secondary world war
Old Labour : Policy
Emphasises the importance of redistributing wealth and creating a fairer society, but did not try and abolish capitalism
It aimed to manage capitalism (Keynesian economics) so that it didn’t exploit the workforce and so that there was full employment and equality for opportunity
E.g creation of comprehensive schools to intent to promote greater equality of opportunity
Old labour V New Labour : economic policy
Old labour
- committed to public ownership or nationalisation [i.e creation of Clause IV]
- however, 1945 - 51 government adopted a Keynesian approach, they did nationalise many things but post war there was a consensus that the state had a active role in the economy
- claiming there should be a mix of both publicly and privately owned enterprise
New Labour
- pre new labour 1970s, increasingly divided over the best approach to deal with the economic crisis and recession
- New Labour produced a middle ground (third way), moving more centrist he removed Clause IV and did reverse Thatcher’s privatisations
- then 2010 came where Labour argued against austerity and for investment to stimulate growth (Keynesian economics)
- post 2017 and Corbyn all labour leaders have attempted to re-nationalise and move to a softer left
