Political Parties

Question 1

What is a political party?

Answer 1

An organised group looking to gain political power

Question 2

What are the 2 main parties in the UK?

Answer 2

Conservative & Labour

Question 3

What are the 5 main functions of political parties?

Answer 3

1. Formulate policy
2. Organise government
3. Recruit leaders
4. Representation
5. Foster participation

Question 4

Which 4 groups hold power in parties?

Answer 4

1. Leaders
2. Donors
3. MPs and Lords
4. Members

Question 5

Which act restricted the funding and spending of non-party campaigners during election periods?

Answer 5

Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning, and Trade union Administration Act 2014

Question 6

Which act regulated party funding and spending?

Answer 6

Political Parties, Elections, and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA)

Question 7

What are 3 benefits of state funding?

Answer 7

1. Reduces reliance on private donors or trade unions with vested interests
2. Creates level playing field for all parties
3. Improves party performance as they do not need to spend time and effort raising funds

Question 8

What are 3 drawbacks of state funding?

Answer 8

1. Reduces party links to society
2. Funding linked to past electoral performance would favour existing and larger parties
3. Makes parties less independent of the state

Question 9

Which 2 parties formed a coalition between 2010 and 2015?

Answer 9

Conservatives and Liberal Democrats

Question 10

How does the electoral system (FPTP) determine the success of parties?

Answer 10

Benefits 2 major parties by encouraging concentrated support

Question 11

What are the 5 main factors determining the successes of parties?

Answer 11

1. The electoral system
2. The media
3. The competition
4. Policies
5. Party leaders

Question 12

How does the media currently influence elections?

Answer 12

Focuses on the 2 major parties, marginalising smaller ones (UKIP has been an exception)

Question 13

How do events determine the success of parties?

Answer 13

Can affect popularity levels of parties linked to the events (e.g. UKIP and Brexit referendum 2016 or SNP and Independence referendum 2014)

Question 13

How does competition determine the success of parties?

Answer 13

Smaller parties can eat at support of larger ones (e.g. SNP and Labour in Scotland)

Question 14

How do party leaders determine the success of parties?

Answer 14

Popular party leaders attract people (e.g. Tony Blair) and less popular leaders repel them (e.g. Jeremy Corbyn)