week eight - party competition

Question 1

why are parties good for democracy?

Question 2

why are parties bad for democracy?

Question 3

what are the two theories you need to know when it comes to political parties?

Answer 3

1. Downsian model (1957)
2. Cleavage model (1967)

Question 4

What is the cleavage model?

Answer 4

There are social cleavages in society. For example, class, race, etc. Political parties will represent the different interests of these cleavages.

If there is only one social cleavage in a country (for example, class) then there will be a two party system - for example, labour and the conservatives, is based on class.

Question 5

What is the downsian model?

Answer 5

It posits that rational parties converge towards the median voter’s preferences to maximize electoral support. As they want to maximise their support, they are not policy seeking - but rather office seeking. this leads to a diminishment in their ideological differences.

this presupposes Adam Smith - rationale choice theory

Question 6

what is populism?

Answer 6

Populism is a political approach that seeks to represent the interests of ordinary people, often contrasting them with a perceived corrupt elite.
^it often uses “pub politics” approaches to appear more relatable to the average citizen who uses such phrases, etc in their day to day lifes. (Goodhart 2017)

in modern day, it has risen from culture divisons and economic.