political parties knowlege test 2.1 and 2.2

Question 1

what is a political party?

Answer 1

a group of people who share broadly the same ideology/ ideological beliefs

Question 2

what features are associated with ‘right wing’ ideas?

Answer 2

small state, low taxation, protection of individual liberties, strong law and order enforcement,national sovereignity and strong defence

Question 3

what features are associated with ‘left wing’ ideas?

Answer 3

large state,nationalisation of industry, beliefs about class conflict(marxist beliefs and values), higher taxes,extensive ‘cradle to the grave’ welfare provision, greater influence of the state on the economy,socially progressive and a more internationalist approach to global problems/ politics

Question 4

what are the main functions of a political party ?

Answer 4

selecting candidates to run in local and general elections,providing personnel for the government,electing a party leader,policy formulation (writing of a party manifesto),campaigning,representation, educating the public through the use of campaigning,representation, mobilising consent for a government (mandate)

Question 5

how are political parties funded?

Answer 5

1- policy development grants of £2m for main political parties
2- short money - opposition parties
3-donations
4- membership fees
5- trade union donations
6- corporation/ private individual donations

Question 6

how much money did the conservative party receive in the 6 weeks leading up to the 2019 general election ?

Answer 6

£19k - 63% of all donations

Question 7

how much money/ funding did the labour party receive in the run up to the 2019 general election?

Answer 7

5K 17.5% of all donations made

Question 8

what proportion of donations to the labour party in the 2019 general elections were made by trade unions ?

Answer 8

93% some may think that this makes the labour party too closely affiliated with the interests of trade unions

Question 9

how much did the brxit party recieve in the run up to the 2019 general election ?

Answer 9

4k from a small number of private individual donors, shows that politiics can be pay to win and private donors have too much influence over it ( disproportionate influence over British politics

Question 10

what are four rules that the political parties, elections and refferendums act (2000) has put in place to encorage greater transparancey and fairness in elections ?

Answer 10

1- independant electoral commision established to record and make public how parties are funded
2- the amount which can be spent in a single constituency by a party was limited to £30,000
3- must register large scale donations over 37,500 with the electoral commission
4- can’t accept donations from non UK citizens- made illegal to do so in order to ensure that other countires/ international political entities couldn’t unfairly influence British politics