comparison Flashcards
Party system/ 2-party dominance - similarities
Arguably 2-party system
FPTP system explains 2-party dominance
Media support and funding focused on 2 main parties
Minor parties can make major parties lose elections
party system diff
UK moving towards multi-party system
minor parties involved in government in UK
Regional governments give minor parties platform in UK
party unity similarities
Internal divisions and rebellions in both
Clearly identifiable and organised factions in both
Polarisation moves US parties more in direction of
UK party unity
party unity differences
Much stronger party unity in the UK
Clear party leader and binding manifesto in the UK
UK parties have control over election candidate selection and campaign finance
Trend towards more party unity in US, more divisions in UK
labour and democrats similiarities
Both centre-left on fiscal issues: government intervention in the economy, reduce inequality
Both progressive on social issues: defend minority rights
Both in favour of constitutional change to improve democracy (elected HoL, abolish electoral
college)
labor and democrats difference
Labour is more clearly left-wing/interventionist (e.g.
health care)
Democrats more divided/big tent (Labour has more competition on the left, Green Party and LibDems)
cons and Republicans similarities
Both centre-right on fiscal issues: minimal government regulation, free market
Both conservative on social issues: protect traditional institutions
Both reject constitutional change/overturn recent changes (repeal HRA, keep electoral college)
cons and republicans differences
Republicans more clearly right-wing on fiscal issues (e.g. health care)
Republicans more clearly conservative on social issues (e.g. abortion, gay marriage)
Republicans more divided/big tent (Conservatives with competition on the rights: Brexit Party)
paragraph on two party system
A similarity between the US and the UK that explains the two-party dominance in both countries is the electoral system. Both countries use
a winner-takes-all-system for their most important elections, which disadvantages minor parties as it does not translate the number of votes a party gets proportionally into seats in the legislature. In the US, congressional elections, uses First-Past-The-Post as voting system, with single member congressional districts, and as a result only the two
main parties manage to get any seats in Congress. For presidential elections the electoral college voting system also gives electors on a
winner-takes-all-basis by state, disadvantaging minor parties. For example, in 1992 Ross Perot gained 19% of the popular vote in the
presidential elections, but not a single electoral college vote. Similarly, the UK also uses First-Past-The-Post for general elections, inflating the
size of the major parties and protecting their dominance, although not quite to the same degree as in the US. For example, in 2015 UKIP gained
13% of the vote, but only got 1 seat in the House of Commons.
structural theory meaning
Constitutional rules, other laws and regulations,
structures of organisations – the organisational
structure of politics and the government
structural theory example
The selection of members of the House of Lords and Senate is simply organised differently; HoL unelected, the Senate elected
🡪 that explains the difference between both in
how they perform a representative function.
“Structural theory explains the difference in
how Parliament and Congress represent constituents, because of differences in the
rules around the selection of members of the House of Lords and the Senate.”
cultural theory
Differences are the results of a political
culture, or the influence of groups
Political parties, pressure groups, religious groups;
established cultures or ways of doing things in politics
cultural theory example
E.g.
The way working with the other party is viewed; in the UK there is a tradition of ‘adversarial politics’,
compared with a US tradition of ‘bipartisanship’
🡪 this explain differences in party discipline
“A cultural explanation of the difference in party unity and discipline is that the UK has a
tradition of ‘adversarial politics’ where it is regarded as ‘not done’ for MPs to co-operate with members of the opposite party. The US, in contrast had a culture of bipartisanship”.
rational theory
Differences are the result of the freedom
individuals have to pursue their own
interests
Prime minister/president, members of legislature,
judges, voters – are they free to pursue their own
interest?
rational theory example
E.g. In the US members of Congress are less
controlled by the party leadership than MPs in the
UK and are more free to pursue their own interests
→ this explains differences in party unity
Prime minister/president, members of legislature,
judges, voters – are they free to pursue their own
interest?
“The rational theory partly explains differences in party unity between the US and the UK.”
