Lecture notes
Political Parties- A level Politics notes
- Module
- Political parties
- Institution
- PEARSON (PEARSON)
Notes for the topic ‘Political parties’, this follows Edexcel A level specification.
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Political partiesKey terms
Party systems- It describes the normal number of parties that compete
effectively. Thus we may speak of dominant, two-, three- or multi-party
systems.
Right-wing - Their beliefs derive from liberal and conservative ideologies
that include a liberal focus on the importance of excessive government and
keeping taxation low while also emphasising conservative beliefs such as
law and order and the importance of national sovereignty and a strong
defence
Left Wing - Emphasises the importance of creating a fair and equal society
through positive state intervention such as higher taxes and great state
influence on the economy.
Old Labour - Old Labour refers to the traditional Labour policies such as
nationalisation, redistribution of income and wealth and an extended public
sector that were rejected by the New Labour approach.
New Labour- New Labour refers to a rebranding and repositioning of the
Labour Party to a more right-wing/social democratic trend in
Labour thinking and policy intended to make the party electable after
its electoral catastrophes of the 1980s.
Political parties
Functions and features of Political Parties
Representative- They function to represent their members and
support and promote their interests. In the 2019 general election,
75.7% of those who voted felt that their political opinions were being
expressed by the conservative party.
They promote political education by explaining their beliefs and ideas
while providing education on contemporary topics such as defence
Political parties 1
, and the environment.
Provide personnel of government- Leaders in a national and local
context while recruiting, developing and selecting the next
generation of political leaders through providing candidates for
public office, for example, in 2010 the membership of the
Parliamentary Conservative and liberal democrat parties provided the
membership of the coalition government.
The role of holding government in the UK is made possible by
organised political parties
Campaigning- The political parties’ campaign plays an important role
in the democratic process. Through delivering leaflets and arranging
political events the voters can understand the choice between
candidates.
Policy formulation- A party’s ideas through its manifesto will be put
into operation. It determines the policy commitments that will be put
into the party manifesto. For example in the Labour Party, a national
policy forum consults with the party before an election.
Funding system
Political parties in the UK greatly rely on private funding but they do
have limited access to public funds to subsidise policy development
and parliament scrutiny.
The policy development grant allocated £2 mil for leading parties
Short money allocated for the opposition party in their work for
the House of Commons
Leader of oppositions funded almost £800,000
Cranbore money was granted to opposition parties in the House
of Lords.
Should the political parties in the UK be state funded
Yes No
It creates a more level Less democratic- people
playing field when it is state should be able to financially
funded so that smaller support any abuse they wish
Political parties 2
, Yes No
parties would not be so
disadvantaged at general
elections’ providing the
electorate with a fairer
choice. For example in
The cost of state funding of Could reinforce 2 party
political parties would be system- if the state were to
comparatively small- Phillips fund political parties it would
Report recommended 25 be controversial to decide
million. how much each party can
The required increase n claim- reinforcing
taxation would thus be conservative and labour
comparatively small dominance
Disproportionate financial
influence- Brexit party
State funding of political
spends 4,150,000 but wins
parties would encourage
no seats in 019 general
greater transparency and
election SNP spends 24,929
trust in politics
in donations and won 48
seats
Less political activism and
engaging with public-
political parties raise money
through charging
membership due's, if publicly
funded there would be less
of an incentive for them to
encourage political activism
Established Political parties
Conservatives
Traditional conservatism
The origins of the Conservative Party can be traced back to the
English Civil War, when royalist supporters supported the status
quo because they feared a revolution would become violent and
destabilising due to the sudden change.
Political parties 3
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