Political Parties Flashcards
(157 cards)
1
Q
What are manifestos?
A
Sets out policies it would seek to pass into law if elected to office
2
Q
What is the electoral mandate?
A
The right for the governing party to pursue the policies of sets out in its general election manifesto
3
Q
What does the Salisbury doctrine?
A
The unelected House of Lords should not, at second reading, oppose any bill that was included in the governing party’s manifesto at the time of the genera election
4
Q
How is representation been a role of a political party?
A
Parties represent the views of its members, this was true in an age of mass membership however partisan dealignment and 2% people are party members makes it less valid
5
Q
How is political engagement and participation a role of political parties?
A
Parties perform an educative function that encourages political engagement. The extent of participation is wether the party is internally democratic
6
Q
What’s an example of parties performing engagement and participation?
A
Liberal Democrat’s meet bi-annually and the annual party conferences
7
Q
How is political recruitment a role of a political party?
A
Parties recruit and select candidates for elections- there’s an opportunity to serve a form of political apprenticeship at a local level before graduating to “high office”
8
Q
How is policy formulation a role of a political party?
A
Parties discuss and develop policy proposals before presenting them to voters in their manifesto - think tanks eg
9
Q
How is stable government a role of a political party?
A
Without parties The House of Commons would simply be a gathering of individuals , driven by personal goals and political ambitions - too many opinions
10
Q
What are major parties in the UK?
A
In the modern era, UK politics has been dominated by the Conservatives, Labour and the Lib Dem’s - you get large voter shares and no. Of seats
11
Q
What are minor parties - nationalist parties?
A
They look to nurture the shares cultural identity and language of those indigenous to a given geographical area- nation SNP or region Mebyon Kernow( Cornwall)
12
Q
What are goals of nationalist parties like?
A
Some campaign for full independence (SNP) , others have more modest goals (Plaid Cymru)
13
Q
How does the British National Party differ from most national parties?
A
It campaigns in support of the way of life and values that claims are common to all indigenous people
14
Q
How has the BNP deteriorated?
A
Having achieved some electoral success in the early part of the 21st century, the party has been reduced to a single councillor and just 500 members by 2016
15
Q
What do single issue parties have to offer?
A
A wide-ranging programme of policies rooted in a particular ideological perspective (the Green Party), others campaign on a particular issue eg UKIP or even a specific policy eg prolife alliance on abortion
16
Q
Recent elections have seen single issues on the party with the example of what?
A
Independent Kidderminster hospital and Health Concern Party, candidate Dr. Richard Taylor won the Wyre Forest constituency at the 2001 and 2005 general election
17
Q
How do many single issue or ideological parties blur the boundary between political parties and pressure groups?
A
Their primary goal is to raise awareness of a particular issue as opposed to winning an election and/or securing power eg UKIP
18
Q
What is a dominant party system?
A
Where a number of party exists but only one holds government eg Japan under Lib democrat party 1955-93
19
Q
What is a multi party system?
A
Where many parties compete for power and the government consists of a series of coalitions formed by different combinations of parties eg Italy between 1945-93 proportional representation
20
Q
What are the aims of communism?
A
Replace private property and profit based economy with nationalisation , economics equality
21
Q
Who expressed communism?
A
Karl Marx
22
Q
What party system does communism have ?
A
Single party system and they think everything should be government owned- against capitalism
23
Q
what is a single party system?
A
where one party dominates, bans other parties and exercises total control over candidacy at elections-where elections occur at all e.g. Nazi Germany or the democratic peoples Republic of Korea
24
Q
what is a two party system?
A
where two fairly equally matched parties compete for power at elections and others have little realistic chance of breaking their duopoly
25
what is a two and a half party system?
where two equally matched parties and another party with less support but not too little to be a minor party eg Liberal Democrats
26
where did the political spectrum come from?
emerged in revolutionary France at the end of the 18th century
27
what are the different parts of the political spectrum?
communism, socialism, liberalism, conservatism and fascism
28
what is communism?
aims to replace private property and profit based economy with nationalisation, economic equality,
29
who expressed communism?
Karl Marx
30
where can communism be seen?
China, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam
31
what type of party system would communism have?
single party system and is against capitalism
32
what is socialism?
advocate for greater equality and redistribution of wealth. socialists are suspicious of capitalism and favour greater government intervention in both economic and social policy
33
what party is socialism associated with?
labour party
34
what two categories are socialism divided into to?
revonist socialism- improve capitalism(Labour) and revolutionary socialism- abolish capitalism and bring all property into nationalisation
35
What is liberalism often referred to?
Referred to as a single ideology, it is possible to identify a number of strands
36
What is classical liberalism?
Favours minimal state intervention . Stresses the importance of freedom , toleration and equality and self reliance is better than the state
37
Who adopted classic liberal agenda ?
The Thatcherite New Right from the layer 1970’s they are referred to as neo-liberals
38
What is progressive liberalism?
A more compassionate form of liberalism that sees the need for some regulation of the market as well as provision of basic welfare
39
Who developed the idea of progressive liberalism ?
Writers such as T.H. Green and L.T. Hobhoise. It was later developed into the mixed economy supported by John Maynard Keynes and William Beveridge
40
What is The emphasis of progressive liberalism?
Emphasis on reform, individual rights and a mixed economy- provided the ideological foundation for all of the liberal centre parties eg Lib Dem’s
41
What is conservatism?
A loose ideology favouring a pragmatic approach to dealing with problems, while seeking to preserve status quo
42
What do some people argue about conservatism?
It’s not an ideology because it looks to improve upon what exists already as opposed to building from the ground up from a more ideological standpoint
43
What does facial support?
Authoritarian ultranationalist characterised by dictatorial power, for able suppression and opposition and strong regimentation of society and of the economy
44
What are policies of facism ?
Nationalism and complete state control of society. The basic idea of fascism is that there is strength in unity eg Mussolini
45
What were the origins of the Conservative party?
1834- represented by the wealthy. Reinvented itself in 1928 after universal suffrage was brought. Dominated UK politics with 67 years in office in the 20th century
46
Who developed one nation conservative?
Benjamin Disraeli
47
What are the values of one nation conservatives ?
Evolution not revolution, a Keynesian mixed economy, support for universal welfare state and internationalism and increasing European intervention- eurofiles wets
48
What were ideas after 1979?
Thatcherism was a much more radical, bro-liberal version of conservatism -part of new right movement included US president Ronald Raegan
49
What are the qualities of Thatcherism?
Marked death of postwar consensus and a rise of adversarial politics. Deregulation in the field of business, privatisation , statuary limits on the power of trade unions and limited state welfare provision
50
Who adopted compassionate conservatism and what does it involve?
David Cameron - combined Thatcherite free market economic policies with more liberal social policies
51
How did the conservatives respond to 2008 financial crisis?
Cutting public spending
52
what did conservatives accept after thatcher became leader?
the post-war consensus
53
what was thatcher's nature as leader and where did she swiftly move the party to?
she was impatient with her parties of high taxation, powerful and disruptive unions and economic stagnation- moved the party swiftly to the right
54
what did thatcher adopt in her foreign policy?
protecting one of the UK's overseas territories in 1982 Falkland's war , playing a leading role alongside Ronald Raegan in Cold war diplomacy and winning a financial rebate from the EU community
55
what happened after Thatcher was in power 1979-1990?
John major was in power and he continued Thatcherite policies. there was struggles within the party over Europe
56
when David Cameron became party leader in 2005 what was his aim?
to detoxify the Conservative party's nasty image
57
how did Cameron do in the elections?
won most seats in the 2010 and formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats- in 2015 he won a small majority
58
after Cameron resigned from the EU referendum result what did May want to do?
she wanted one nation policies but her 2017 manifestos support of grammar schools, fox hunting and removal of free school lunches for 4-7 yr olds suggested different
59
how could May not carry out her one nation conservatism wishes after calling a snap election in 2017?
she failed to win a big majority and had a minority government depending on the DUP alongside the struggle of balancing Remainers and Brexiteers
60
what did Richard Kelly offer three judgements on Cameron in 2008?
represented a 'flagrant capitulation to New Labour', a 'subtle continuation of Thatcherism' or it amounted to little more than 'shameless opportunism'
61
when was the Labour Representation Committee formed and what did it involve?
1900- included trade unions and left wing political groups to represent the working class in Parliament
62
what did Labour reject?
revolutionary socialism, focusing instead on social democracy- the 1918 constitution committed Labour to socialism
63
what is the overall evolution of the Labour party?
formed its government in 1929 but didn't win a majority until 1945- government created NHS, welfare state and nationalised many industries- formed post-war consensus
64
what is social democracy?
democratic version of socialism. socialists win power within a democratic system, and introduce changes eg nationalisation, high taxation and welfare state
65
what did clause IV in the 1918 constitution entail?
committed Labour to the "common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange" meaning widespread nationalisation
66
what is New Labour a balance of?
centre- right economic policy and centre- left social policy
67
what is Corbynism described as?
the return to old Labour. it advocates renationalisation of the railways and utilities , reversing austerity and increasing taxes on business to pay for the welfare state
68
what happened in 1994 when Tony Blair became leader?
he recognised the economic successes of Thatcherism and aimed to triangulate Labour's policies. with Gordon Brown, he launched New Labour
69
when did Blair re-write clause IV and what did it entail?
1995, "with a thriving private sector and high-quality public services- become neo-liberal
70
what did Labours landslide victory 1997 mean they could implicate?
devolution, removal of hereditary peers in the House of Lords, Human Rights Act 1998and the Freedom of Information Act 2000, introduced national minimum wage and increased public spending
71
after what incident did Blair's reputation never recover?
committing Britain to the war in Iraq in 2003
72
when blair stood down in 2007, what happened?
Gordon Brown served as prime minister until his defeat in the 2010 general election.
73
how had Brown nurtured Labour's economic reputation?
through being chancellor of the exchequer but this was weakened by the impact of the global recession in 2008
74
what did Miliband do in his time as party leader?
defeated one of New Labour's best known figures his own elder brother in a leadership contest, he moved the party slightly to the left and was vilified by the right wing media
75
what did Miliband fail to do?
win over the electorate in the 2015 general election
76
what happened after Jeremy Corbyn was elected party leader in 2015?
he adopted old Labour methods
77
how was Corbyn the most rebellious back bencher in Blair's government?
he led to the Stop the war coalition against the war in Iraq., opposed nuclear weapons and was backed by the grassroots movement Momentum
78
what did Old Labour entail?
dogmatic, interventionist, public sector provision, supports universal welfare and social justice and is the party of the working class
79
what did New Labour entail?
pragmatic approach, catch all party, favours market economy, favours public/private partnership, advocates social inclusion and supports targeted welfare
80
what was the liberal Democrat party formed by?
The liberal party and the Social Democrat party
81
what is the liberal party?
one of the two main parties in UK politics, but after WWII was pushed into third place by the Labour party
82
what is the SDP?
formed in 1981, when four leading Labour politicians left Labour in protests at its increasingly left-wing policies
83
how did the two parties come together?
In 1981, the SDP formed an electoral pact with the Liberal party, known as ' the Alliance' then in 1988 to two parties merged to form the Liberal Democrats
84
what is social liberalism?
keen to dismantle Thatcher's economic policies and to re-distribute wealth via higher taxation on the wealthy. members were usually members of the SDP or Labour party prior
85
what do thinkers of the orange book: Reclaiming Liberalism accept?
the free market and did not significantly challenge Thatcherite economic policies
86
why does the party argue for proportional electoral reform?
the Alliance famously won 26% of the vote but only 23 seats in the House of commons
87
what happened with Labour in the 1997 general election then 2005?
won 46 seats with leader Paddy ashdown then in 2005 Charles Kennedy won 62 seats due to the party's opposition with Iraq war
88
when Nick Clegg became leader in 2007, what was his ideology and why was he ideally placed?
from the centre-right of the party and had contributed to the orange book, to join forces with Cameron since both were towards the centre of the political spectrum
89
as part of the coalition agreement what did the Liberal democrats agree to?
increase university tuition fees when their signature had been to always not do this which meant they lost some of their core voters: students
90
how were some voters left wondering the difference between the Lib Dems and Conservatives?
the Liberal Democrats were associated with austerity- the coalition erased the unique identity of the Lib Dems
91
why did Nick Clegg resign as leader in 2015?
their numbers were cut off to 8 MP's
92
what did being Remainers hope to attract in the 2017 general election?
to win more seats but they only attracted 14 seats
93
when were the Lib Dems overtaken by the SNP as the third largest party in the commons?
2015
94
2015 manifesto: what are three similarities in all three main party manifesto's?
expand apprenticeships, increase NHS funding (£8bn in conservatives and lib dems and 2.5bn for Labour) and get zero carbon emission by 2050
95
what parties wanted the vote for 16+?
lib dem and labour
96
what party wanted to replace trident with four submarines to act as a sea- deterrent?
conservative
97
2017 manifesto: what are three similarities ?
increase funding for the NHS £30bn by labour £8bn by conservatives and £6bn by Lib Dems, renew trident for conservative and labour all want to meet 2% NATO target of 2% of GDP defence spending
98
whats a difference in the 2017 general election manifesto?
Liberal Democrat and Labour want to ban fracking then Conservatives support it
99
what is the structure and organisation of the Labour party?
those who join Labour party are assigned to a local branch, Branches select candidates for local elections and send delegates to the General Committee of the Constituency Labour party (CLP)
100
what does the CLP do?
organises the party at a constituency level- it takes lead in local and national election campaigns and plays a part in selecting candidates for parliamentary elections
101
what does the National Executive Committee do?
enforces party discipline, ensures the smooth running of the party , has the final say on the selection of parliamentary candidates and oversees policy proposals
102
what kind of arrangement is this?
top down
103
what is the structure and organisation of the Conservative party?
Branches corresponding to local council wards operate below the constituency level conservative association (CA)
104
what does the CA do?
organises the party at grassroots level and planning election campaigns. they no longer have free reign in selecting parliamentary candidates
105
how is the party organised nationally?
around the Conservative campaign headquarters at Millbank westinster - previously referred to as Conservative Central Office (CCO)
106
how are the Liberal Democrats organised?
along federal lines
107
how does it operate along federal lines?
separate national parties in England, Scotland and Wales operate with a number of regional parties below them.
108
who are the Englis Liberal Democrats governed by due to the absence of English assembly or parliament?
the English council executive- compromises the representatives of all 11 English regional Liberal Democrat parties
109
how are the lib dems organised at the UK level?
governed by a number of federal institutions that were traditionally coordinated by the federal executive.
110
what did the party conference in 2016 opt for?
a new federal board- a body that would shape the strategic direction of the party and oversee the work of the party's other federal committees
111
how do the parties sit in EU parliament?
following elections in 2014, the 19 conservative MEP's sit with EU conservative and Reformists group, 20 Labour sit with progressive alliance of socialists and democrats and the 1 Lib Dem MP sits with Alliance of Liberals and Democrats
112
how are conservative leaders chosen?
Conservative MP's vote in a series of ballots designed to narrow the field of leadership candidates to two then party members vote on OMOV basis to decide leader
113
how does the Labour party choose their leader?
candidates ,must secure nomination of 15% of the parliamentary Labour party to qualify for the ballot then party members and registered voters vote on a one member one vote basis
114
how are lib dems leaders chosen?
candidates must secure nomination of 20 local parties or 200 party members to qualify for the ballot then party members vote on a OMOV under the AV system
115
how do all three parties choose parliamentary candidates?
hopefuls must get their names onto a centrally vetted, approved list of prospective candidates, the local party draws up a shortlist from those approved candidates and constituency party members vote for their preferred candidate, wether in person at a meeting or by post ballot
116
how have the Conservative party experimented to widen the pool for prospective parliamentary candidates?
the Hustings , open primaries and priority lists
117
what do Labour use?
all women shortlists
118
what did all women shortlists do?
significant increase on women MP's in 1997 general election. at 2005 general election Peter Law became candidate to represent Blaenau Gwent having been prevented by all women shortlists
119
how do the Conservatives establish party policy?
Top down process, as John major said "it was all me"in 1992, the establishment of national Party Policy forum as part of William Hagues fresh future initiative in 1998 was short lived
120
what was William Hagues future initiative in 1998?
introduced to allow for grassroots participation in the process
121
what was said about the 2010 general election manifesto?
was said to be written entirely by David Cameron, Oliver Letwin and Steve Hilton
122
who was said to have been behind the 2015 general election manifesto?
Jo Johnson
123
How did Labour determine policy up until 1997?
Conferences were genuine making policy events
124
What did the party adopt after 1997 to make policy?
A 2 year policy making cycle
125
What was the two year policy making cycle adopted by Labour government?
The national policy forum appointed policy commissions to make proposals which were then formalised in the National Executive Committee, before passing to the party conference for approval
126
What has reform of policy making been said to reduce for Labour?
Reduced the party conference to little more than a rubber stamp for policies agreed elsewhere
127
What was Ed Miliband credited for as Labour Leader after Gordon Brown?
Having drafted the party’s 2010 general election manifesto
128
Who was said to have wrote the Labour 2015 manifesto?
A team of compromising academics such as Jonathon Rutherford, MP’s including Jon Cruddas and Marc Sears- a friend of Milibandsand speech writer
129
Though the Liberal Democrat’s federal structure has led people to believe they were the most democratic what can be said about policy making ?
The party leaderships influence over the Federal terms of policy making, the party leaderships influence over the Federal Policy Committee has allowed it to steer policy
130
What is the main way parties receive funding?
Membership subscriptions
131
Until the 1990’s where did a lot of Labour funding come from?
Fees paid by trade unions and other affiliated organisations
132
Until the 1990’s where was the main source of funding for the Conservatives?
Bankrolled wealthy business interests
133
What had a major impact of party finances in the 80’s and 90’s?
Decline of parties as mass member organisations
134
What resulted in failing revenues for the Labour Party?
Efforts to reduce the influence of trade unions within the Labour Party, under Neil Kinnock, John Smith and Tony Blair
135
After failing to find parties, they seeked donations from wealthy individuals- Who?
Bernie Ecclestone and Lord Salisbury for Labour, Sir Paul Getty and Stuart Wheeler for Conservatives, though Wheeler later defected to UKIP- becoming the party’s treasurer
136
What Labour donation was said to create a delay in the introduction of the ban on tobacco advertising in Formula 1 motor racing ?
Bernie Ecclestones £1 million
137
When was the political parties, elections and referendums (PPERA) Act?
2000
138
What did the PPERA act impose?
Imposed an overall limit on party spending in general election campaigns (£30,000 per constituency), establish additional spending limits for elections to devolved bodies and the EU parliament
139
What did PPERA require parties to do with donations?
Required them to declare all donations over £5000 to the Electoral Commission.
140
What was the main aim of PPERA?
Make parties less reliant on individual backers
141
Political Parties and Elections Act (PPEA) when did that happen?
2009
142
What did the PPEA establish in 2009?
Imposing tighter regulations on spending by candidates in the run up to an election, allowing the Electoral Commission to investigate cases and impose fines
143
What was the main aim of PPEA?
To restrict donations from non U.K. residents and reducing the thresholds for the declaration of donations
144
What did the 2007 Philips conclude?
One way forward might be greater state funding for the U.K. political parties perhaps through some form of ‘pence-per-voter’ or ‘pence per member’ funding formula
145
Where do public funds that have been long in place come from?
Policy Development Grants established under section 12 of the PPERA, Short money and cranborne money
146
What is cranborne money?
Funds paid to opposition parties in the House of Lords in order to help them provide proper scrutiny of the government
147
What is short money?
Funds paid to opposition in order to help cover their administrative costs and thereby provide for proper scrutiny of the government
148
What happened for the ‘loans for peerages’ scandal during Labour’s time in office (1997-2010)?
Supporters to office the party long term, gave low interest loans
149
Did the party funding in (1997-2010) result in prosecution?
No but the issue is still controversial , as seen in the efforts to address the status of donors not registered as U.K. taxpayers under the PPEA
150
What did Lord Ashcroft provide in Conservative Party?
Long term party backer and deputy chairman, whose tax status provoked debate and controversy until March 2010, when he didn’t pay tax on oversees earnings
151
I’m 2015, what percentage of party income came from party membership?
19%
152
In 2016, what did all parties receive in donations?
568 donations totalling £14,384,737
153
In 2016, what did Conservative party receive in donation?
269 donations totalling £6,751,948
154
What did the Labour Party total in donations in 2016?
150 donations totalling £5,489,345
155
What did Liberal Democrat’s receive in donations totalling?
79 totalling £766,119
156
What scandal involved Lord sainsbury?
Made £2 million donation to Labour Party, Labour wouldn’t ban GM food and he was invited to become a peer
157
What scandal involved Burny Eckleston?
1997- donated £1 million to Labour Party. Labour Party wanted to ban smoking ads but they weren’t banned at formula 1 that year
