Voting behaviour & the media Flashcards
What is class dealignment
It is the increasing tendency for voters to support a particular party, not because of which class they come from, but according to an objective judgement of the quality of the parties
Causes of class dealignment
- People care less about their class
- parties have become more central and so may appeal to all classes
- Other factors have become more important e.g. party image
What is partisan dealignment
Voters feel less of particularly strong attachment to one of the major parties or any specific party
Causes of partisan dealignment
- Parties adopting more centrist policies which alienate traditional voters in favour of a wider base of support
- Growing support for smaller parties
- Long term decline in party membership
- Greater dissatisfaction with the performance of parties of Westminster to less attached to them
What are salient issues
Issues that are very important to the election and voters are heavily influenced by them
Examples of salient issues
- State of the economy
- State of the NHS
- State of education
- Immigration issues
- Trends in crime and law and order
What is instrumental voting
-Voting for best intent e.g. taxes and benefits
What is expressive voting
-Voting for the community e.g. environmental policies
Economic influences on voting
- The state of the economy is slightly salient
- Many blame the ruling government for a bad economy
- Labour was effected by financial crash and recession of 2010 contrastingly they benefited from a strong economy in 2001 and 2005
Main features of the outcome of the 1997 election
Labour gained a majority and the conservatives lost more than half of their MPs labour gained a majority. Lib dems also managed to gain a significant no. of seats at the expense of the conservatives. However minor parties had little impact.
Major changes since last election (1997)
Conservatives lost 178 seats and labour gained 148 seats so labour was able to form a majority government
Arguments for removing political polls
- May influence the way people vote
- Have proven to be inaccurate, so mislead public
- Arguably politicians should not be slaves to changing public opinion, as expressed in the polls
Arguments against removing political polls
- It would infringe on the principles of freedom of expression to remove opinions polls
- If they are banned they will become available privately for the organisation that can afford to pay for them
- Polls give valuable info about people’s attitudes which can guide politicians usefully
- They would still be published abroad and people could access them through the internet anyway
SOCIAL CLASS
- To make inferences and predictions about behavior concerning a voting decision, certain factors such as gender, race, culture or religion must be considered.
One reason to explain the close link between social class and voting behaviour is the historic differences in party policies. The Conservatives have a tradition of favouring low taxes and reduced welfare support. These types of policies appeal to wealthier people in social classes A/B who are less reliant on the state.
swing/floating vote
A swing vote is a vote that is seen as potentially going to any of a number of candidates in an election, or, in a two-party system, may go to either of the two dominant political parties. Such votes are usually sought after in election campaigns, since they can play a big role in determining the outcome.
