paper one: political parties

Question 1

what are the functions of a political party?

Answer 1

• forming a government and an opposition
• representation of the public
• political participation
• creating policy

Question 2

how does a political party represent the public?

Answer 2

• people vote for a candidate from a political party during elections
• represent the public in parliament, regional parliament/assemblies and local government
• represent party members, e.g. labour has 309,000 and reform has 220,000+

Question 3

how does a political party impact political participation?

Answer 3

• people can become members of the party and have more impact on the democratic process
• increase political participation by educating the public on politics

Question 4

how does a political party create policy?

Answer 4

• political parties establish policies they believe voters need
• they propose policy in their manifesto to the public, e.g. 2024 labour manifesto promised 40,000 more GP appointments a week and free breakfast clubs in all primary schools

Question 5

how are political parties funded?

Answer 5

• membership fees
• donations
• short money

Question 6

how do membership fees fund political parties?

Answer 6

• minor source of income due to declining party membership
• conservatives membership income decreased from £1.9m to £1.5m in 2023
• labour membership fees as high as £17m due to corbyn in 2017

Question 7

three donations the labour party received in 2024

Answer 7

• £2.5m from lord sainsbury
• £1.49m from unison (public service union)
• £514k from usdaw (trade union for people in various lines of work)

Question 8

two donations reform UK received in 2024

Answer 8

• £200k from zia yusuf
• £500k from britain means business

Question 9

how does short money fund political parties?

Answer 9

• short money is designed to cover party administrative costs and to allow for effective scrutiny of the government by the opposition
• the conservative party currently receives the most short money as the largest opposition party

Question 10

why is party funding controversial?

Answer 10

• individuals can buy access to and influence politicians, e.g. cash for honours
• political parties are too dependent on donors to be able to do what they need to

Question 11

what did PPERA (2000) do to reform funding?

Answer 11

• political parties, election and referendums act in 2000
• party spending limits at general elections to £30,000 for each constituency

Question 12

what did PPEA (2009) do to reform party funding?

Answer 12

• political parties and election act (PPEA)
• enabled the Electoral Commission to investigate and fine parties who broke the rules of the PPERA
• limits donations allowed from non-UK residents and reduces the amount at which donations need to be made public by parties

Question 13

have funding reforms worked?

Answer 13

• regulations have increased the transparency of party funding
• however, parties have encouraged supporters to give long-term ‘loans’ instead of donations to get around the regulations set out by the PPERA
• main political parties still receive large donations from wealthy individuals undeterred

Question 14

how could state funding fund political parties?

Answer 14

• remove the influence and access private donors have
• gives politicians more time to serve the interests of their constituents rather than seeking funding
• ends the funding gap between large and small parties

Question 15

what is the case against state funding political parties?

Answer 15

• taxpayers might oppose funding parties they are opposed to
• will not solve the problem of parties having different levels of funding, as parties have different levels of membership to one another
• it could be argued that individuals who wish to donate money to a party should be allowed to do so, not limited to only doing it through tax

Question 16

conservative party - one nation

Answer 16

• supported traditional institutions (e.g. church, family and class system)
• reliance on pragmatics and paternalism
• grass roots change

Question 17

conservative party - thatcherism

Answer 17

• radical, free-market right wing ideology
• part of the new right movement: orthodox conservative state with a neo-liberal state
• reduced trade union powers

Question 18

conservative leader - cameron

Answer 18

• coalition in 2010, won in 2015, stepped down in 2016 after the EU referendum
• 2010 campaign: economic management, replace HRA with a UK bill of rights
• policies made: reducing benefits, deficit and spending cuts

Question 19

conservative leader - sunak

Answer 19

• became PM in 2022 to 2024
• policies made: rwanda asylum plan, aid and weapons to ukraine, ban on fracking

Question 20

old labour - social democracy

Answer 20

• ideology based on socialism, nationalism, strong links to trade unions and the working class
• clause iv: the belief that wealth needs to be redistributed and things nationalised, but caused lots of controversy
• 1983: manifesto ‘the longest suicide note in history’, loss the election due to it

Question 21

new labour - third way

Answer 21

• introduced by tony blair in 1994, aimed to make them more appealing to voters
• ideology based on reduced trade union power, devolution, acceptance of EU and NATO membership, support private schools and healthcare
• clause iv reworded

Question 22

labour leader - corbyn

Answer 22

• party leader from 2015 to 2020
• seen as ‘a committed socialist’ and ‘regular rebel’ for opposing party elite
• proposed policies: reducing wealth inequality, national education for all and peace at the core of foreign policy

Question 23

labour leader - starmer

Answer 23

• party leader in 2020, elected in 2024
• policies: borders bill (returned 16k with failed asylum claims), VAT fees on private school tuition, banned no fault evictions

Question 24

liberal democrats - history