refers to the greek word "demokratia" where "demo" means "the people" and "kratos" meaning "power" so it basically means "rule of the people" there are two types of democracy:representative and direct
1 of 23
What is a pluralist democracy?
it encourages paricipation and allows for free competition, it has a diverse range of competing interests, pressures groups can have influence, everyone is involved, some people believe Britain is Elitist rather that pluralist
2 of 23
What is power and authority?
"power" is the ability to make something happen because of others, "authority" is the right to make something happen.these can both be held independently to one another
3 of 23
What is electoral participation?
the representation of the people act 1969 let people over the age of 18 vote, so now around 95% of people in the voting age is registered as it is a legal requirement, however some people are excempted from voting (mentally unstable, criminals)
4 of 23
What was turnout like in the 1950's 80's and 00's?
there is regional varitions (2001= 59% voter turnout but Dr Richard Taylor won with a turnout of 75%), people feel like their votes dont matter or that all parties are the same, "hapathy"- 2005= 29% of those satisfied with democracy did not vote
6 of 23
What are the forms of non-electorate paticipation?
writing to an MP, membership with a party, pressure group, consumer campaigns, direct action, in 1984 83% voted in an election but 4% went on a boycott- 2000= 72% election, 31% boycott
7 of 23
How has the membership for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds grown?
2009=it had more members than the 3 main political parties combined, it had over 1.3 million members, 1,300 staff, 8,000 volunteers, £50 million a year
8 of 23
How does Gender effect voting?
Before 1979 women would vote conservative due to their home roles, however Labour tried to get the female vote so in 2010= 31% of women voted Labour and 28% of men, 36% of women voted conservatives and 38% of men
9 of 23
How does class effect voting?
In the 60's Labour would typically get the working class vote, however there was societal changes and embourgeoisement meaning that in 2010 cinservatives had gains among all social classes and Labour lost people on benefits, and manual workers
10 of 23
How does ethnicity effect voting?
1996= 6% of population non-white, 2009=16.7%, minority voters would typically vote Labout however Labour lost constituancies with high muslim populations in the 2005 election after military intervention in Iraq
11 of 23
How does age effect voting?
older voters=conservatives, younger voters=Labour, Labours contribution to Iraq led to a drop of support for the party among the under 45's in the 2010 election, more young people voted liberals
12 of 23
How does Region affect voting?
There is an economic division between the north and south, 1997= Labour got 51.8% in the north but conservatives got 27.9%, in the southeast the conservatives got 41.4% of the vote but Labour got 32%
13 of 23
What is the social structures model?
It emphasises the influence of social issues such as ethnicity, occupation and gender
14 of 23
What is the party identification model?
indiciduals would identify a political party and stick with it, in the 50's 90% of voters voted for either Labour of Conservatives but this was 65.1% in the 2010 election
15 of 23
What is the Rational choice model?
making judgements on issues,policies or leaders, the spatial model sugests that parties are more likely to attract voters who are on the median spectrum, in 2010= L focused on C cut to public spending but C foccused on L bad economic record
16 of 23
What is the voting context model?
voters consider the nature of the election being contested, in the 2004 EU election C was the most popular choice, UKIP got 16,1% of the vote but they only got 2.2% of the vote in the 2005 general election
17 of 23
What is the importance of party leaders?
Most elections focus on party leaders, "Blair effect" on the 1997 election, in News broadcasts 74% of all citations of L was Gordon Brown, 71% of C David Cameron, 72% of Lib Dems Nick Clegg
18 of 23
What is tactical and protest voting?
Tactical= individul chooses a canidate that isnt their favourite to avoid someone they hate being elected, protest=voters back a party that isnt their own to send a message to their "natural" party
19 of 23
What is swing and churn?
Swing= shows fluctating fortunes of parties by avergaing the percentage fall and rise of two different parties, Churn= large numbers of voters switch their support between parties, between elections, while the headline statistics remain the same
20 of 23
What are opinion polls?
question the voting intentions of sample groups of around 1,000 individuals, they usually allow a margin error of plus or minus 3% however in 1992 it was 8.7%, it can lead to "bandwagon effect" (voting for parties doing well) or "Bommerang"
21 of 23
How accurate are opinion polls?
it can be unaccurate as some respondents may not be registered, respondents could lie, samples are too small so do not reflect the broader electorate, many were "floating voters"
22 of 23
How accurate are exit polls?
Exit polls are more accurate than opinion polls as they have larger samples and asked people how they voted instead of asking their intentions, 2010= exit polls in BBC ITV and Sky predicted 3 parties seats won within 4 seats of the actual outcome
23 of 23
Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
What is a pluralist democracy?
Back
it encourages paricipation and allows for free competition, it has a diverse range of competing interests, pressures groups can have influence, everyone is involved, some people believe Britain is Elitist rather that pluralist
Card 3
Front
What is power and authority?
Back
Card 4
Front
What is electoral participation?
Back
Card 5
Front
What was turnout like in the 1950's 80's and 00's?
Comments
No comments have yet been made