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Political Parties
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Detailed, thorough notes on Electoral Systems based on the suggested Edexcel A-Level textbook
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Political PartiesDefinitions:
Right wing: supporting the status quo - for little or no change. Supports of right-wing parties (often known as
conservatives) stress the importance of order, stability, hierarchy and private property
Left wing: desiring change, reform and alteration to the way that society operates, including socialists, who
are critical of the capitalist or free-market economy
One Nation: a paternalistic approach adopted by Conservatives under the leadership of Benjamin Disraeli in
the 19th century - and continued by David Cameron and Theresa May in the 21st century - revolving around
the idea that the rich have an obligation to help the poor
New Right: an approach that combined: the thinking of neo-Conservatives who wanted the state to take a
more authoritarian approach to morality and law and order, and the thinking of neo-liberals who endorsed
the free market and the rolling back of the state in people's lives and businesses
Old Labour (social democracy): key Labour principles embodying nationalisation, redistribution of wealth
from rich to poor and the provision of continually improving welfare and state services - an approach which
largely rejected the more free market approach associated with Thatcherism or New Labour
New Labour (Third Way): a revision of traditional 'Old Labour' values and ideas, involving a shift in emphasis
from a heavy focus on the working class to a wider class base, and a less robust alliance with the trade unions
Classical liberals: early liberals who believed that individual freedom would best be achieved with the state
playing a minimum role
Modern liberals: liberals who believe that, under free-market capitalism, many individuals were not truly
free, and that the state must help them in a more active way
Party systems: the way in which the political parties in a political system are grouped and structured. Possible
variants that could apply to the UK include a one-party dominant, two-party, two-and-a-half party and multi-
party systems
Political parties
A political party is a group of people drawn together by a similar set of beliefs (ideology). Most parties aspire to
form a government so adopt an agreed programme of policies, linked to their core ideas. Some parties are
defined by a single issue (e.g. UKIP). Parties are different to pressure groups. Pressure groups may represent a
single sectional interest of be concerned with a narrow range of ideas; they may try and influence parties to adopt
their ideas.
Political parties perform a number of functions within a democratic system:
Representation - the main function is to represent the views of the people with a certain set of beliefs;
people with right-winged views tend to support the Conservative Party, whilst those with left winged views
the Labour party. This function could be represented by individuals or pressure groups but the value of
parties is that they bring order to the political system.
Participation - to win power or influence, parties encourage people to participate in politics (to vote, join a
party, support it though funding, etc). Parties vary in how far they allow their members to shape party
politics, but all the main UK parties involve members in selecting candidates to stand for elections and in
choosing the party leader (e.g. the Labour Party increased their membership by allowing supports to join for
an annual subscription of £3).
Recruiting office holders - party membership for some leads to recruitment as candidates for public office
and thus participation in the UK's representative democracy. Candidates can learn political skills as
campaigners and organisers. Parties have the right to reject candidates who fair to live up to their
, expectations (before 2015 election, some Conservative activists did not allow sitting MPs to stand again for
candidates).
Formulating policy - parties generate politics that embody the ideas for which they stand for; at an election,
these are put before the electorate in a manifesto (e.g. in 2015, the NHS was a key battleground; the
Conservatives promised 7 day access to a GP and Labour promised an appointment within 48 hours). Parties
also have an educative function, by communicating and explaining their ideas to the public
Providing government - the winning party at an election forms a government, controlled the business of
Parliament which involves passing its manifesto into law. The prime minister is not elected directly by the
people, but is the leader of the largest party. A prime minister who loses the confidence of their party is
vulnerable (e.g. Margret Thatcher in 1990)
Funding - MPs are paid for general taxation (basic annual salary was 2016 in £74, 692); they are allowed to claim
expenses to cover the cost of running an office, living in Westminster and their constituency, and travelling
between the two. However, in the UK there has been resistance to state funding of parties, so parties meet most
of their election costs from fundraising events and voluntary subscriptions. There is a special state provisions to
support the activities of the opposition in Parliament (Short money).
Party funding is controversial as there is suspicion that powerful interests offer financial support for political
influences. The Conservatives historically has been seen as the party of big business, whilst Labour has
traditionally been funded by the trade union, which played a major roles in founding the party and shaping its
policies. However, during the New Labour years, this was somewhat replaces by donations from successful
individuals as Labour became more friendly towards the business community. The Lib-Dems often criticise their
opponents for being bankrolled by the wealthy; larger parties have been accused of offering political honours to
their most generous benefactors, which counters the principles of democracy and openness. (Blair was accused of
a connection between Bernie Ecclestone's, the motor-racing boss, of £1 million and the delay in implementing a
ban on tobacco advertising in Formula One racing.
In order to overcome the perception that party funding was an undemocratic feature of the UK political system,
the Blair Government passed the 2000 Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act:
an independent electoral commission would supervise party spending on election campaign
parties could spend a maximum of £30,000 per constituency
donations of more than £5000 nationally and £1000 locally has to be declared
donations from individuals not on the UK electorate were banned
This, however, did not put this issue to rest as there was a 'cash for peerage' scandal in 2006 (which transpired
that several wealthy individuals who loaned money to the Labour Party had been nominated for honours). It was
later decided that loans would be subject to the same conditions as donations, and spending limited were revised
for the 2010 election.
In 2007, a former civil servant (Sir Hayden Phillips) proposed to address the problem of private donations by
parties being funded instead by taxpayers' money. No government action has been made. Another suggestion,
support by Labour and the Lib- Dems in 2015, was to limit individual donations to parties. This caused debate and
the Conservatives, who had the most to lose, wanted restrictions on Labour's trade union backers. The
Conservative government's 2016 Trade Union Act obliged new trade-union members to choose whether to opt in
to making payments towards the political levy, expecting this to lead to a significant drop in Labour's funding from
the unions.
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