Voting behaviour theories

This theory states that we, as individuals, decide which political party we vote for by observing which would benefit us, and our friends and families, the most:

- Started in 1980s

- Consumerist approach - like customer going into market

- Some studies in 1980s & 1990s show that choices voters make might be influenced by external factors e.g. the media

- Sander (1996) stated that the economy & how it was affecting lives was an impotant factor for voters

Political preferance is influenced by the process of socialisation, children normally show preference to the same political party as their parents. They have a psycholgical attachement to the party often referred to as Partisan alignment. Voters tend to stick to the same party long term:

- In recent years signs of Partisan De-alignment have been noticed.

- Partisan De-alignment is the decrease of party identification

Similiar to Rational Choice but believes that our choices are influenced by the media

- Put forward by Dunleavy & Husbands (1985)

- Media help to determine agenda for debate

- Media reflects a 'Dominant Ideology' & voters vote for the party with a conforming policy

Sociologists state that it is an individual's social characteristics that influence their voting behaviour e.g. social class or ethnicity:

- Pulzar (1967) - 'Class is the basis of British politics; all else is embellishment and detail'

- Working class generally voted Labour whereas Middle Class voted for The Conservatives.

Other characteristics include: Ethnicity, Religion, Gender & Religion

- Class alignment is the term used to describe class influenced voting

- Class De-alignment describes the deviance from traditional class based voting

• 23.2% were involved in indirect methods of politics e.g. protests, petitions, pressure groups etc
• 51% limitied involvement to participating in elections
• 25.85& were almost inactive

Gladiators - Individuals who actively involve themselves in politics

Spectators - Individuals who watch but only take part in elections

Apathetics - Individuals who take no part in politics