Political Parties

Representation

• Parties link govt and the people by responding to and articulating public opinion
• They develop policies that appeal to the electorate 
• The winning party claims a mandate to carry out its policies - translates public opinion into govt policy
• HOWEVER
• The electorate isn’t always well informed and rational when choosing between parties 
• FPTP means parties only need the support of 35-40% of the electorate to win 

Policy Formulation

• Parties develop programmes of govt which means that often initiate policy and also formulate police options to give the electorate choices 
• HOWEVER
• Major parties have distanced themselves from their traditional ideologies and are less interested in formulating larger goals for society 
• Parties are more eager to follow public opinion than shape it 

Recruitment of Leaders

• All senior political careers start with the decision to join a party 
• Party members can gain experience by debating and help run a constituency party 
• Party membership opens the door to political office 
• HOWEVER
• As govt are appointed from the ranks of the majority party, thy rely on a small pool of talent 
• Electioneering and other party activities may be poor training for running a large govt dept 

Organisation of Government 

• Parties:
• Help to form govts, meaning there is a system of party govt 
• Give govts a degree of stability and coherence, especially as members of govt are usually drawn from a single party and therefor united by common sympathies and attachments
• Facilitate cooperation between Parliament and the executive 
• Provide a source of opposition/criticism to help scrutinise govt policy 
• HOWEVER
• Decline in party unity since 1970s has weakened the majority party’s control of the Commons

Participation and Mobilisation

• Parties:
• Provide opportunities for citizens to join parties and therefore shape policy 
• Help educate and mobilise the electorate through canvassing, public meetings, advertising, poster campaigns, broadcasts etc. 
• HOWEVER
• Voters’ loyalty towards parties has declined (in 1964, 44% had ‘very strong’ attachment to a party, 2005 10%)
• Turnout has fallen since 1997 (59% voted in 2001 - lowest turnout since 1918)
• Membership of major parties has fallen (from 3m in 1960s to 384,000 in 2015)

Party Leaders

• Especially when the leader is PM
• Political celebrity 
• Presidentialism 
• Leaders have a brand image, but this can be a source of vulnerability 
• Failed leaders are often removed or stand down 

Parliamentary Parties

• Merely lobby fodder?
• MPs said to be increasingly more independently minded
• Decline of party unity weakens authority of the leader 

Members and Constituency Parties

• Less important - falling membership, tendency for major parties to develop policy through policy committees, forums and task forces has strengthened control that leaders exercise over policy development 

Party Backers 

• Provide campaigns and political finance 
• Labour has been controlled by trade unions that provide the bulk of funding (declined recently by still 77% of donations)
• Conservatives have major business backers (brewers, tobacco companies and construction companies)
• Rich individuals buy influence 
• Led to new rules on party funding by the Electoral Commission (parties must announce donations of over £5000)

• Traditionally a two party system (up until 1974)
• Two parties with equal prospect of winning 
• Only two parties likely to win (minority parties can also exist though)
• One party can run alone with the other as opposition
• Power regularly alternates between these parties 

• 19th century - Conservative-Liberal two party system
• 20th century - Conservative-Labour 
• An archetypical (typical) two party system existed between 1745 and 1970
• - Cons and Lab won over 90% of the vote and had 90% of MPs in HofC
• - power alternated between them 4 times - average electoral gap of 4% between the parties 
• Two partyism questioned during continuous Cons rule 1957-64 

Advantages of a two party system: 

• Creates a strong but accountable govt
• Straight forward choice for the electorate 
• Reassurance that policies can go ahead without the negotiation involved in a coalition

• Two party system started to break down 1974 onwards 
• Revived support for ‘third’ parties (Liberals, then Lib SDP Alliance 1983-87, then Lib Dems)
• 1974 - hung Parl (no party had a majority), formation of a minority Labour govt 
• 1974-97 - two and a half party system, as a result of shift in voting behaviour due to partisan and class dealignment 
• Result of these shifts = masked by FPTP 
• 1979-97 - Cons domination bc of divided nature of the non-Cons vote 

• Multiparty system since 1997
• Multiple parties compete for power
• No single party has sufficient strength to have a chance of winning power alone 
• Usually coalition/minority
• Govt power can shift after elections as coalition partnerships break down  

• Two party system continued in HofC bc FPTP
• - suffered blow in 2010 election due to hung Parl and formation of coalition govt 
• 1974 - 38 MPs from parties other than Lab or Cons vs. 2010 where there were 85 
• 2015 = the first election were parties other than Lib Dems, Lab and Cons together won over 1/4 of the vote

Elsewhere, the picture is more complex and diverse bc:

• Devolution made nationalist parties more prominent (now major parties in Scot and Wales)
• PR systems for newly created bodies since 1997 has improved ‘third’ and minor party representation 
• New issues have emerged that cut across traditional party politics battle lines e.g Europe, war, the environment - made way for parties like UKIP and Greens 

Left

• Socialism
• Collectivism
• Equality, fraternity and freedom 
• Social justice
• Interests of the wider community important
• Universal distribution of benefits e.g. health, education and insurance
• Positive view of human nature - humans are social animals, not self seeking 

Right

• Conservatism                                               -Importance of the individual and individual choice
• Free markets                                                -People have a flawed human nature so need discipline
• Nationalism                                                  -The role of the state in peoples' lives should be limited
• Strong position on law and order                 -Peace and security more important than rights & freedom
• Tradition                                                       -Inequality can be good and be an incentive for others
• Selfish                                                          -Not collectivism  

• Labour and socialism influences by Attlee govt reforms 1945-51
• - social democracy - watered down socialism
• - humanised capitalism - capitalist market economy
• - generate wealth but not distribute 
• - greater equality in capitalist society 
• - Social justice - reduce material inequalities 

Social democracy 

• A mixed economy 
• - nationalisation (state control over the economy - transfer of industries from private to public sector)
• Economic management 
• - the economy regulated by govt, Keynesianism reflects belief that govt achieve full employment and stimulate grown the reflating the economy through higher levels of public spending 
• Comprehensive social welfare 
• Attlee govt expanded welfare state in Beverage Report - set out to attack ‘five giants’: 
• — Want (poverty)
• — Disease (illness)
• — Ignorance (lack of education)
• — Squalor (poor housing)
• — Idleness (unemployment)
• - Sought to protect citizens from cradle to grave 
• - Funded by progressive taxation (rich may proportionally more tax than poor) 

Thatcherism

• Self interest
• Radicalism
• Individualism
• Personal advancement
• Roll back the state
• Free market economics

Social Thatcherism (neoconservatism)

• Tough law and order 
• - custodial sentences more widely used, prison terms lengthened, and in some cases tougher prison regimes
• Traditional values
• - enemy of social Thatcherism = spread of liberal or permissive values (allow people to make their own moral choices), instead tradition ‘Christian’/‘family’ values were defended
• National patriotism
• - strengthen national identity, Euroscepticism 

Economic Thatcherism (neoliberalism)

• Privatisation 
• - the transfer of industries fro the public to the private sector 
• - the mixed economy transformed by privatisation, the state lost direct control of major industries
• Reduced union power 
• - new laws restricted the ability of trade unions to take industrial action 
• - created a more flexible labour market and led to growth of a low-wage low-skill economy in many sectors
• Low taxes
• - failed to reduce overall level of taxation, but created shift in the burden from direct to indirect taxes 
• - this reduced the progressive nature of the tax system and widened inequality 
• Deregulation
• - removed lots of restrictions on the economy e.g. controls on the exchange rate (allowing the £ to ‘float’)
• - supports that helped failing industries were scald down or scrapped 

• The period after Thatcher being in power (Labour govt)
• Consensus politics gave way to adversary politics 
• Softening of social policies
• Some Thatcherite economic policies maintained up to Blair 
• Blair modernised Labour - Clause Four 

New Labour

• Market economics
• - the economy should be regulated by the market and not by the state 
• - Blairism therefore built on Thatcherism, not reverse it 
• Constitutional reform
• - lots of constitutional reforms made 1997-2001
• - argued that Labour’s conversion to constitutional liberalism was only partial
• ‘Third way’ welfare 
• - Blair’s approach to welfare different to Thatcher (standing on your own two feet) and social democracy (cradle to grave) 
• - wider use of ‘targeted’ benefits (not universal)
• - welfare-to-work (programme to boost employability skills and incentive to work)
• Strengthening responsibility 
• - rights should be balanced against responsibilities 
• - communitarianism (people are happier and more secure if they live in communities that have clear values and strong culture)

• Politics lived in the shadow of the 2008 recession
• Opened up new political dividing lines
• David Cameron - ‘age of austerity’
• George Osbourne - age of ‘no money politics’

• People from the coalition said ‘Labour’s debt crisis’ was a consequence of reckless public spending by the Labour govt
• — the solution would be to cut spending
• Labour said it was the impact of a global financial crisis (they has little control so took no responsibility)
• — solution would be to promote growth and avoid anything that would prolong it 

• Shifts in the Conservatives created the coalition - Thatcherite ideas - because:
• — maintain party unity (majority of Cons MPs were Thatcherite)
• — Cons poll lead over Labour reduced pressure over modernisation 
• — belief that a smaller state is ideologically desirable 

• Recession marked a point - leaderships previous emphasis on detoxifying the party’s image started changing
• 2008-10 - reengage with economic Thatcherism
• — major parties said they’d reduce the budget deficit 
• — Cons - substantial spending cuts to remove the structural deficit (part if budget deficit that stems from imbalance between tax revenues and its spending level - this wasn’t achieved)
• Impact of emergency budget 2010 increased VAT
• Cuts in govt spending 2010 showed that the coalitions embraces Cons commitment to robust deficit reduction 

The coalition approach to the deficit and other policies were similar to Thatcherism:

• Political choice 
• - the coalitions cuts were a political choice, they were more severe than choices made by countries in a similar position
• Spending cuts rather than tax rises
• showed a willingness to reduce the size of the state and a Thatcherite desire to keep taxes low
• Growth strategy 
• - as the public sector contracts, the private sector will grow
• Privatisation 
• - plans to cut spending involved a shift from public provision to private provision (transfer of industries from the public sector to private sector)
• Welfare cuts
• - spending cuts affected the welfare state and benefits system, Thatcher said welfare creates a ‘culture of dependency’ and hampers the economy
• Big society philosophy 
• - controversial term associated with regeneration of community groups, local activism and volunteering, instead of public provision 

The coalition approach differed from Thatcherism:

• Health spending 
• - promise to increase health spending, reorganisation that placed more control in the hands of GPs
• Welfare reform
• - despite cuts, there was a long term commitment to create a unified tax and welfare system, third way/Blairite welfare thinking
• Criminal justice
• - laws were tough for years - neoconservatism, wanted to reduce prison population and have non custodial sentences, liberal view to rehabilitate not deter wrong doers

Pledges

• Eliminate deficit
• Increase NHS spending
• Brett referendum
• Cut welfare spending by £12b
• Prevent EU migrants from claiming benefits for 4 years 

• Responding the the deficit
• - recapitalise banking system by giving banks £37 billion of taxpayers money
• - interest rates reduced - monetary stimulus - make borrowing easier 
• - reliance on fiscal stimulus - promote financial growth by allowing govt spending to exceed tax revenues 
• Thought that the best response to a recessions is to ‘inject’ more money into the economy through public spending, then it ‘withdraws’ through taxation
• - stimulus demands and promotes growth
• Use nationalisation a political tool
• - New Labour leaving as Old Labour returned 
• - however nationalisation was used reluctantly and temporarily 

• Ed Miliband more Brown Blair 
• - “New Labour is dead” - Ed Miliband (what does he mean by this?)
• Ed needed to create an alternative to the coalition’s budget reduction programme, without allowing Labour to be seen as ‘deficit deniers’ 
• - reduce borrowing from levels too high
• - coalition went too far and fast in reducing the deficit 

• Ed criticised the coalition - failure to develop strategy for economic growth
• - severe spending cuts were part of the problem, not solution
• Economy started to revive in 2014
• Labour moved focus to squeeze on living standards and that the economic recovery only benefited some people
• One Nation Labour - Lab not Cons the true heir of One Nation tradition
• - decreasing attention, no one cared

Pledges

• Cut deficit every year
• Increase NHS spending
• No UK to EU transfer of powers until Brexit
• Raise minimum wage to £8
• Abolish the bedroom tax

• Liberal Party and Social Democrat Party merged in 1987
• Minimal state and free market = classic liberal
• Social and economic intervention = modern liberal/social democracy 

• Set out to break a mould in politics 
• Stop two party system - centralist alternative 
• Similar to New Labour 
• Left - increase income tax to fund education better and abolish uni tuition fees, and opposition to Iraq War 2003 

• Surprise over Cons-Lib Dems coalition as Labour are more similar to the Lib Dems than Cons 
• Cons - detoxify Cons brand, support public services, poverty 
• - social liberalism (commitment to social welfare to promote equal opportunities and help people help themselves)
• Lib Dems shifted in opposite direction 
• - support within Lib Dems grew for a more free market economic strategy 
• - shift from centre-left to centre-right 
• Had little influence on party’s policy programme up to 2010 election
• During election campaign, Lib Dems and Lab - Keynesian approach to budget deficit 

• Cons and Lib Dems getting closer towards 2010 election
• - but still represented competing political traditions
• - ‘wedge’ issues became more prominent 
• Lib Dems needed to make distinctive identity in the coalition
• Tuition fees to bankers bonuses etc created tension
• Disagreement and Europe, Trident electoral reform, Lord reform, welfare, immigration, NHS reform, nuclear powers, civil liberties 
• - strained unity of coalition 

Pledges

• Eliminate deficit 
• Increase NHS spending
• Brett referendum 
• STV electoral system in local and national elections
• Education funding

Their rise can be linked to 3 broad developments

• Centre ground strategies and their drawbacks 
• - Lab and Cons modernising, detaching from traditional views, more central
• - swing voters in swing seats (small proportion of people)
• - drawn to centre, creating ideological vacuums that small parties quickly fill
• The rise of populism 
• - emerging parties share similar populist character (appeal to people - give expression to their deepest hopes and fears)
• - can be treated as anti-politics (when people feel alienated from politics and don’t participate, they often get drawn in by smaller parties)
• outsider status for parties 
• Decline of the Liberal Democrats 
• - fringe parties all made a breakthrough 2010-15
• - due to opportunities emerged from the transformation of the Lib Dems from protest parties to serious through its participation in the coalition 

UKIP

• Right wing Eurosceptics
• Focus on leaving the EU and immigration

Pledges

• Brett referendum
• Increase NHS spending 
• Eliminate deficit
• Immigration points system
• No inheritance tax

SNP

• Scottish Party + National Party of Scotland joined in 1934 
• Focus on Scottish independence or devolution
• Social democracy
• 1979 devolution referendum failure was damaging 
• Nicola Sturgeon is great for them

Pledges

• Mansion tax
• Build 100,000 new affordable houses
• No Brexit
• Increase minimum wage to £8.70
• No new nuclear weapons - Trident

Green Party

• Green Party of Great Britain split into 3 in 1990
• - Green Party, Scotland Green Party, and Northern Ireland Green Party 
• Commitment to social and affirmative action
• Preservation pf other species
• Sustainable society
• Basic material security 
• Non violent solutions to conflict 

Pledges

• Increase minimum wage to £8.10
• End privatisation of the NHS
• Stop the temperature rising by over 2 degrees
• Send £85b on renewable energy
• Return railways to public hands 

Faction - small group of politicians that share a common interest in policies or a leader

Capitalism - wealth owned privately, economic life organised around market

Conviction politics - policies are shaped by the ideological conviction of their leaders

Social justice - moral distribution of wealth - reduce material inequalities 

Nationalisation - transfer of industries from private to public ownership 

Paternalism - helping people that can’t help themselves 

Progressive taxation - tax paid in proportion to how much you earn

Consensus politics - overlap in ideologies/agreement between parties 

Individualism - people are self interested and self reliant 

Collectivism - work together, support one another

Free market - unrestricted market competition, free from govt interference 

Privatisation - transfer of industries from public to private sector

Minimal state - a state that leaves all matters to the individual, apart from maintaining domestic order, enforcing legal agreements, and protecting against external attack 

Social conservatism - tradition, order, and common moralist provide basis for stable and healthy economy

Permissiveness - people make their own moral choices and do their own thing - no authoritative values

Euroscepticism - oppose EU, like national sovereignty and identity 

Adversary politics - deep ideological conflicts between major parties 

Third way - alternative to Keynesian social democracy and free market policies of Thatcherism

One Nation Conservatism - paternalism, tradition, organic society, social duty, pragmatic intervention, ‘middle way’ economics 

Communitarianism - people are happier and more secure living in communities that have clear values and strong culture 

Old Labour - ideological, working class, managed economy, social justice, universal benefits, cradle to grave welfare, traditional constitution

New Labour - pragmatic, ‘big tent’ politics, market economy, social inclusion, targeted benefits, welfare-to-work, constitutional reform 

Recession/deficit - loans less available due to banks not lending to one another

Structural deficit - part of deficit that stems from imbalance of tax revenues and its spending level

‘Big society' - controversial, regeneration of community groups, local activism and volunteering (as an alternative to public provision)

Monetary stimulus - policy to stimulate economic growth by reducing interest rates - makes borrowing easier

Fiscal stimulus - policy for economic growth - allowing govt spending to exceed tax revenues

Social liberalism - commitment to social welfare to promote equal opportunities and help people help themselves