C2 - Political parties Flashcards
Features of PPs
- members share similar political values
- parties seek to get candidates elected and form a govt.
- they have an org . That develops policy, recruits candidates and identifies leaders
Nature / features of PPs varying
- mass membership parties ( UK Labour ), small leadership group that want supporters not members
- some are highly organised and permanent, some are less permanent
- some have narrow range of views, some have broad range of views
- some seek power, some want to influence govt. ( green )
Functions of PPs (7)
- make policy - aggregation
- representation
- select candidates
- identify leaders
- organise elections
- political education
- reinforcing consent
What does the function of making policy / aggregation mean
Aggregation - taking a wide range of views from members and public and condensing them into consistent and compatible actions
What does the function of representation mean
- parties have bias toward the interests of certain groups
- populist parties with emerge and disappear quickly represent people who feel they’re not represented ( e.g. UKIP )
- issue parties represent particular causes ( green )
What does the function of selecting candidates mean
Local councillors, elected mayors ,MPs and members of devolved assemblies are selected by parties in selection processes
What does the function of identifying leaders mean
Parties identify
- potential govt. ministers
- prime minister controls appointment of ministers in the ruling party
- in opposition the leader will choose the front bench MPs
What does the function of organising elections mean
Parties
- supply candidates
- publicise issues
- ensure counting is fair
What does the function of political education mean
- informing people about issues
- tell people how the political system works
- media has taken over this role
What does the function of reinforcing consent mean
- accepting election resulted and political systems so supporters do too.
Mandate definition
Consent of electorate to put policy into place on their behalf. Means ruling party has the consent of electorate to carry out their manifesto
What does mandate mean
- electors know what policies they are consenting to when voting
- gives parties legitimacy
- parliament can call govt. to account, based on their manifesto
Problems with the mandate
- depends on a single party winning, so there is one manifesto
- voters don’t necessarily agree with all manifesto points
- things will change, after party comes to power, in the world so policy will need to change
- some manifesto commitments may be vague, so calling govt. to account can be difficult
Manifesto meaning
A parties policies. Aggregation to create a coherent manifesto.
Aug 2022 party membership numbers
Labour - 432K
Conservative - 172K
SNP - 119K
Lib Dem - 74K
Green - 47K
Plaid Cymru - 10K
( most of these have probably fallen )
Legislation governing how parties are funded
Political parties, elections and referendums act 2000 (PPERA)
what does PPERA do
- creates rules on what donations can be accepted, how their reported and controls campaign expenditure
- introduced the policy development grant and established the electoral commission
- donations over £500 have to be declared
- donations over £7500 have to be placed on an electoral register
- people not in UK electoral roll can’t make donations
The electoral commission
- regulates party and election finances
- was set up and an independent body , now no longer an independent body and is now answerable to govt.
Policy development grants - public funding
- grants that assist parties with developing policy
- parties need to be registers with the electoral commission and have at least 2 sitting and voting HoC members and who have made the oath of allegiance ( Sinn Fein members don’t take oath ) ( green don’t have enough seats )
- total available is £2 million a year, first mil shared equally between all eligible parties, second mil is shared based on size of the electorate party contests and represents ( E.g. SNP get less as they only fight seats in Scotland )
What is money given to opposition parties in HoC and HoL called
- short money - in HoC
- cranborne money - in HoL
Why is short and cramborne money given
Given to opposition parties to hold govt. to account, as ruling party has govt. funding and civil servants at their disposal.
How is short money distributed ( 2022 )
1) general funding :
Around £20,000 for every seat won
Around £40 for every 200 votes
2) travel expenses:
£210,000 divided between opposition parties in same proportion as general funding
3) leader of opposition
£904,000 for running leader of oppositions office
How are parties funded
- collecting membership subscriptions from members
- holding fundraising events such as festivals, conferences, dinners,
- donations
- short money
- loans from wealthy individuals
- self-finance of candidates
- electoral commission (policy dev. grant)
What does party funding mean for large and small parties
- small parties get less money ( donors don’t want to give to a party that is less likely to be elected )
Large parties get a lot - ( labour - trade unions ) ( conservatives - rich people ) - Party funding promotes political inequality
- large donations represent a hidden form of political influence
- some donors may expect honours from party leaders
Alternative party funding structure
1) restrict size of donations to parties
2) tight restrictions if party spending
3) make it so only individuals can donate
4) replace funding with state grants
Why the state should fund PPs
- end opportunities for corrupt use of donations
- end “hidden” forms of influence through funding
- reduce the huge financial advantage of large parties
- improve democracy by enduring wider participation from groups that don’t have funds
Why the state shouldn’t fund PPs
- taxpayers may object to funding what can be considered “ private “ orgs
- difficult to know how to distribute funds
- parties may lose independence and become organs of the state
- state funding may lead to excessive state regulation
Examples of members of political parties sharing similar political views ( L, C )
- Labour members broadly agree on supporting workers rights and preventing businesses from exploiting workers
- conservatives believe in less govt. intervention and regulation in the economy. Free market.
Example of parties seeking to secure election of their candidates ( C,L,LD )
2019 A conservatives stood in 635 constituencies, labour stood in 631, Lib Dems in 629, green in 427.
Examples of parties seeking to form a govt.
- 2010 hung parliament, three largest parties ( C,L,LD ) entered into coalition negotiations. C and LD formed a coalition govt.
- 2017 - conservatives lost majority so Theresa may entered a supply and demand agreement with DUP to ensure they could stay in power.
Examples of parties having an org that carries out functions like policy creation and recruiting candidates.
- labour has annual conferences, where members, local parties and trade unions can put forward proposals to be debated. One policy that was passed at the 2022 conference was support for proportional representation.
- conservatives have a party conference where candidates can put themselves forward
Examples of parties being open to members of the public to join as a paying member
- can join the conservatives by registering online. Fees range from £5 - £25 for different groups.
- People can join SNP from £1 a months and get a lifetime membership for £625
function - Examples of political parties creating policy.
2023 - Rishi Sunak created policy around banning XL bully dogs
2023 - Sunak created a policy position for conservatives. He declared that he was going to stop various policies like having 7 bins for recycling, the ban on oil and gas fires, etc.
functions - examples of parties representing the national interest
conservative party after Brexit had a policy of “representing Brexiteers”. May argued that Brexit was “the will of the people”, so it had to happen.
SNP argue that they work in the interests of Scotland when they argue for independence. they got 64/129 seats in 2021 Scottish parliament. next largest party (C) got 31
functions - examples of parties representing the views of sections of society
Labour - created by trade unions to represent their interests and have strong links to “working class”
SNP - believe in Scottish independence and argue for nationalists in scotland
functions - examples of parties representing people who feel ignored by conventional parties
UKIP, Brexit party, Reform UK - populist parties that call conventional parties out for being “out of touch”
functions - example of parties selecting and vetting candidates
2021 - Sir David amess was stabbed, Anna firth was selected by conservatives to replace him and represent Southend west.
functions - examples of parties identifying leaders
2023 - SNP leadership election after Sturgeon resigned. 3 candidates to replace her, Humza Yousaf elected with 52% of the final vote
2022 - 2 conservative leadership elections. First saw Liz Truss win and the second with Rishi Sunak winning.
functions - examples of parties organising elections
2019 election - labour spent £15,000 and conservatives £3,000 promoting the election and key issues on snapchat.
functions - examples of parties doing political education
Scotland - political parties educate about the difference between various electoral systems in different elections . AMS is used for Scottish parliament elections and STV in local council elections
functions - examples of parties reinforcing consent
2010 - when labour couldn’t form a govt. they accepted that the conservatives would take over and try to form a govt. this was important for stability at a time of uncertainty with a hung parliament.
conservatism roots
17th century - resist new political structures, “conserve” upper class’s position
18-1900 - reaction to new liberal ideas - such as freedom of the individual or a laissez-faire attitude to economic activity - that led to French revolution
prevent the country from becoming too unequal, preserve unity and order
tradition/one nationism conservatism - principles
opposed to change
oppose rise of new ideology
Human nature - pessimistic
Order - strong
Tradition and preservation
One nation and organic society
Pragmatism
Property - defend property owners
meritocracy
traditional conservative principles - human nature
- humans are competitive, liable to fall into disorder and crave order over freedom
traditional conservative principles - Order
liberty, equality and democracy create disorder.
Conservatives are suspicious of ideas that threaten order
traditional conservative principles - tradition and preservation
- institutions like NHS, monarchy, CoE and political constitutions and values like preservation of marriage (they are good as they have survived)
- tradition preserves continuity
traditional conservative principles - one nation and organic society
- industrial revolution meant wealth divide in the two nations (working and middle class) grew. So conservatives should oppose things that create too much inequality so social order isn’t disrupted
- people are held together by common sense of being part of society. well off people should care for poorer people in society. Policies should led society develop naturally.
traditional conservative principles - pragmatism
- politics should be a conversation not an argument and politicians should engage with the people and reach common ground.
- understand what is best for people. e.g. even though conservatives want less tax, since 2008 financial crisis they have resisted doing so to reduce budget deficit.
