| What does a Party System even Mean? | -How many Parties can achieve Representation and can Influence the Politics of the Nation |
| What is a
-Dominant Party System
-Two-Party System
-Three-Party System
-Multi Party System | -One Party will Dominate the Seats in the Legislature, and is Only Party in Government
-2 Parties have Representation that is Significant
-3 Parties have Representation that is Significant
-4+ Parties have a Significant Number of Representatives, and Small Parties can Influence the Politics |
| What Evidence is there that Britain has a Dominant Party System [Only Cares for that Usually only 1 Party can Form Government]
(EX) | -1979 to 2010 had UK had 1 Party in Government [18 Years of Con, 13 of L]
-Coalition that had Followed only was Temporary ‘Myth’ and since 2015 the Election has been Normal [But 2017-2019 needed DUP votes for Legislation to be Passed]
-Only the Con, since 2019, has had 56% of Seats [HoC]
-Even May’s Minority Government could Control the Agenda of Parliament - May could Delay Votes on Brexit to whenever She Wanted too
-Weak Government could thus Dominate Parliament. Conservative survived a Vote of No Confidence in Jan 2019 |
| What Evidence is there of a 2 Party System?
(EX) | -FPTP only has Labour and Conservatives a Chance of forming Government
-FPTP makes sure the 2 Party System is Maintained in terms of how Votes gets Converted into Seats [Concentrated]
-2017 saw Labour and Conservatives win 580 of the 650 Seats [89%!] 2019 saw 87% |
| What Counter-Arguments can be said about the fact there is a 2 Party System in UK? Why may this be the case?
(EX) | -The SNP has Control over Scottish Government
-Labour had Collaborated with the Lib Dem’s in Wales after 2016 Welsh Assembly Elections
-NI has its own Parties that assemble the Northern Irish
-This can be due to the Different Electoral Systems used, and that Sun-National Elections can Benefit the Smaller Parties |
| What Evidence can be said of a 3 Party [or Multi-Party] System in the UK?
(EX) | -2019 saw 82 MPs Elected from Outside the 2 Main Parties, which is Huge Increase from 9 during the 1950-70s
-Green Party has Caroline Lucas Represent the Brighton Pavilion, and has Increased her Majority over the last GEs
-2019 GE saw the SNP get 48 Seats in HoC, meaning it became the 3rd Largest Comfortably |
| What Counter-Arguments can be said about the fact that the UK has a Multi Party System
(EX) | -FPTP will never allow a Permanent Multi-Party System
-2017 GE saw the Highest Vote Share between the 2 Major Parties since 1970, at 82.3% 2019 saw it fall to 75.8%
-Lib Dems Redemption Arc in 2019 was fairly Abysmal |
| Describe the % of Votes won by the 2 Main Parties since 1979 GE | -Overall from 1979 [81%] to 2010 [65%] it had Steadily Declined with only a Hiccup in 1992 with a 3% Increase
-But then 2015 saw a 2% Increase [67%] and then 2017 saw an Enormous 82%!
-2019 only managed to get 76%, which is the 3rd Highest Vote Share since 1979 [Higher than 1983] |
| In terms of Quality of Leadership, which Specific Traits can Attract Support? | -Experience
-Decisiveness
-Ability to Lead
-Media Image
-Intelligence
-Apparent Honesty |
| What does Valence mean? | -How people view the Party Image, which Factors in
-How Competent they were Last time in Office
-How Economically Responsible they were
-Trustworthy and United? |
| In terms of the Media, what Influences do they have on the Parties? And how? | -Press will present Images of Party Leaders - Strong or Weak, Charismatic or Out of Touch
-Dishing out Opinion Polls can Influence Voting Behaviour
-Newspapers will Prefer Different Parties and therefore shine a Different Light on Parties
-Election Time see Most Newspapers get their Reader to Vote for a Party |
| How can Quality of Leadership lead to Success, and Failure?
(EX) | -1997 saw Blair’s Approval Rating very High, and as a Result lead to a Landslide Victory
-And 2019 saw a Poll being Made that 43% of Respondents who didn’t vote Labour did so due to Negative Images of Corbyn |
| How can the Valence lead to Success and Failure?
(EX) | -1983 and 87 saw Labour being Divided, but the Conservative Party United with Thatcher. This led to a Heavy Defeat for Labour
-1997 also saw the Conservatives Divided in terms of Europe and lost to a United Labour under New Labour [Blair] |
| How can the Influence of the Press lead to Success and Failure?
(EX) | -1997 saw ‘The Sun’ back Blair. This led to Blair having Positive Headlines in the Run-up, contributing to his Win, as Blair got positive Headlines in the Run up to the Election
-But 1992 also saw The Sun run the Headline that if Labour wins [Neil Kinnock], then: ‘will the last person to leave Britain turn off the Light’ This had Contributed to a huge Conservative Majority Government, with The Sun saying ‘wot won it’. |
