A-level politics - UK politics

legitimacy

political authority conferred by law or by a state or national constitution

direct democracy

A form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives

Representative democracy

A government in which leaders make decisions by winning a competitive struggle for the popular vote

pluralist democracy

a political system where there is more than one center of power. Democracies are by definition pluralist as democracies allow freedom of association.

democratic deficit

when government or government institutions fall short of fulfilling the principles of democracy in their practices or operation or where political representatives and institutions are discredited in the eyes of the public

pluralism

a condition or system in which two or more states, groups, principles, sources of authority, etc., coexist.

participation crisis

fewer people are getting involved in politics. ... The decline in turnout in general elections is a significant indication that the UK is suffering from a participation crisis as the trend has existed since 1959

franchise/ suffarage

the right to vote in public, political elections

think tanks

a body of experts providing advice and ideas on specific political or economic problems.

lobbyists

a person who takes part in an organized attempt to influence legislators.

initiatives

a process that enables citizens to bypass their state legislature by placing proposed statutes and, in some states, constitutional amendments on the ballot.

petitions

a formal written request, typically one signed by many people, appealing to authority in respect of a particular cause. e.g. anything on change.org

recall

procedure whereby voters can remove an elected official from office

e-democracy

Online methods of political participation such as through online petitions on sites such as change.org

access points

the places to which pressure groups go to exert influence. Assuming they have a choice, it's a good guide to where the real power lies in a political system. The amount of access points available depends on the type of political system that operates.

compulsory voting

a law that requires all citizens in a particular county to vote and pay a fine if they don't vote e.g. Australia

political apathy

indifference on the part of any citizens with regard to their attitude toward political activities

cause groups

organizations whose members care intensely about a single issue or a group of related issues

sectional groups

seek to represent the common interests of a particular section of society. As a result, members of sectional groups are directly and personally concerned with the outcome of the campaign fought by the group because they usually stand to gain professionally and/or economically.

insider groups

pressure groups that are regularly consulted by government departments

outsider groups

those whose aims do not enjoy the support of the Government. They tend to adopt media based, high profile campaigns to capture public attention.

pressure groups

collections of people outside government who campaign for changes in society

old labour (social democracy)

an unofficial name used to talk about the British Labour Party before it was changed by Tony Blair in the 1990s. Old Labour was thought to be more left wing, and supported the idea of increasing taxes to pay for public services such as education and health.

new labour (third wave)

A movement to update Britain 's Labour Party by discarding the traditional Labour platform calling for state ownership of the means of production. The movement has been led by Tony Blair, who became prime minister in 1997 after guiding the Labour Party to victory.

one nation conservatism

a form of British political conservatism advocating preservation of established institutions and traditional principles combined with political democracy, and a social and economic programme designed to benefit the common man.

new right

a political movement made up especially of Protestants, opposed especially to secular humanism, and concerned with issues especially of church and state, patriotism, laissez-faire economics, pornography, and abortion.

classical liberals

a political ideology that values the freedom of individuals — including the freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and markets — as well as limited government. It developed in 18th-century Europe and drew on the economic writings of Adam Smith and the growing notion of social progress.

modern liberal

a reaction against free-market capitalism, believing this had led to many individuals not being free. Freedom could no longer simply be defined as 'being left alone.

party system

a concept in comparative political science concerning the system of government by political parties in a democratic country.

left wing

the liberal, socialist, or radical section of a political party or system

right wing

those who support political, social, or economic conservatism

populist

a member or adherent of a political party seeking to represent the interests of ordinary people.

partisan

a committed member of a political party or political coalitions. In multi-party systems, the term is used for politicians who strongly support their party's policies and are reluctant to compromise with their political opponents.

consensus politics

broad agreement between parties over policy and ideology. best illustrated after the second world war

adversary politics

a situation that tends to occur when there is a 'two-party' system. This occurs when the two main parties fighting for power have very different views.

party factions

A political faction is a group of individuals, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a common political purpose. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, "parties within a party," which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs.

social liberals

a political ideology that seeks to find a balance between individual liberty and social justice. ... A social liberal in this sense may hold either economically liberal or fiscally conservative views on fiscal policy.

orange book liberals

a liberal ideology, mostly within the Liberal Democrats, which seeks to balance the four main strands of liberal thought—social liberalism, economic liberalism, cultural liberalism, and political liberalism.

first past the post (FPTP)

the voting system used for the election of MPs to 'seats' in the UK Parliament. It is a system in which the 'winner takes all' and usually gives a clear majority both at constituency and national level.

additional member system (AMS)

a type of proportional representation in which each elector votes separately for a party and for a representative.

single transferable vote (STV)

an electoral system of proportional representation in which a person's vote can be transferred to a second or further competing candidate (according to the voter's stated order of preference) if the candidate of first choice is eliminated during a succession of counts or has more votes than are needed for election.

supplementary vote (SV)

a voting system used for the election of a single candidate. Under SV each voter ranks from among the list of candidates a first and a second preference

safe seat

a parliamentary seat that is likely to be retained with a large majority in an election. e.g. Arundel and South Downs

marginal seat

a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. e.g. Watford

minority government

a government in which the governing party has most seats but still less than half the total. e.g. the current UK government (conservative/ DUP)

coalition government

a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which many or multiple political parties cooperate, reducing the dominance of any one party within that coalition. The usual reason for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament e.g. 2010 - 2015 lib dem - conservative goverment

proportional representation

an electoral system in which parties gain seats in proportion to the number of votes cast for them e.g. the MEP elections

delegate

a person sent or authorized to represent others, in particular an elected representative sent to a conference.

trustee

a representative who votes based on what he or she thinks is best for his or her constituency

By-election

Held if an MP resigns or dies, in that MP's constituency

turnout

the percentage of eligible individuals who actually vote

winners bonus

a form of semi-proportional representation used in some European countries. Its feature is a majority bonus which gives extra seats or representation in an elected body to the party or to the joined parties with the most votes with the aim of providing government stability.

class alignment

when people with in the way that they are expected to for someone of their class

partisan alignment

a trend or process whereby a large portion of the electorate abandons its previous partisan (political party) affiliation, without developing a new one to replace it. It is contrasted with realignment.

class dealignment

a term used to describe a situation where members of a social class stop aligning themselves in terms of class and believe that they no longer belong to a certain class. An example of this would be if the working class began to view themselves as lower middle class

partisan dealingment

a trend or process whereby a large portion of the electorate abandons its previous partisan (political party) affiliation, without developing a new one to replace it. It is contrasted with realignment.

manifesto

a public declaration of beliefs or principles, usually political ones, from a political party during a general election

mandate

the authority granted by a constituency to act as its representative. The concept of a government having a legitimate mandate to govern via the fair winning of a democratic election is a central idea of representative democracy.

government competency

a measurable pattern of knowledge, skills, abilities, behaviors, and other characteristics that an individual needs to perform work roles or occupational functions successfully. Competencies specify the "how" of performing job tasks, or what the person needs to do the job successfully.

disillusion and apathy

when a citizen/ voter is indifferent in their attitude to political activities

class voting

tendency of a given social class to vote for a party that promotes its economic interests

floating/ swing voters

a person who has not decided which way to vote in an election of refurendum

class voters

a method of a shareholder voting by which different classes of shares are voted separately on fundamental corporate changes that adversely affect the rights and privileges of that class. e.g.

social class

a group of people with similar backgrounds, incomes, and ways of living

valence issues

issues on which most voters and candidates share the same position

economic voting

when voters decide that the economy and its management is a key factor and make a decision about which party is most likely to manage the economy well

tactical voting

occurs, in elections with more than two candidates, when a voter supports another candidate more strongly than their sincere preference in order to prevent an undesirable outcome e.g. green voters voting for labour instead of the greens as labour is more likely to get into power

abstention

not getting onvolved with politics in any way e.g. not voting in elections or refurendums

opinion polls

usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals.

example of a participation crisis

1992 general election turnout - 77.7%
1997 general election turnout - 71.4%
2001 general election turnout - 59.4%
2005 general election turnout - 61.3%

examples of neutral think tanks

• ResPublica - general policy issues

• Chatham House - international affairs

• Centre For Social Justice - policy on welfare issues

• Demos - current political issues

examples of right wing think tanks

• Adam Smith Institute - promoting free market solutions to economic issues

• Centre Of Policy studies - promoting ideas in the premiership of Margret Thatcher

examples of left wing think tanks

• Fabian Society - issues concerning social justice and equality

• Institution For Public Policy Research - various left-wing policy ideas

examples of 'liberal' think tanks

-Liberty - promoting issues concerning the protection of rights and liberties
- Reform - concerning polices on welfare, public services and economic management

Core Insiders

those with a strong two-way relationship with policy-makers over a broad range of issues e.g. the BMA, the NFU

Specialist Insiders

those who are granted insider status within a more narrow area of expertise e.g. the WWF

Peripheral Insiders

those who have insider status but are only rarely needed by government due to the nature of their interest/cause e.g. the Dogs Trust

types of insider groups

• Peripheral Insiders

• Core Insiders

• Specialist Insiders

example of an insider pressure group

name - age UK
nature of pressure - close links with decision makers, lobbying ministers and parliament, participation in policy committees

example of an outsider pressure group

name - Greenpeace
nature of pressure - demonstration of public support, publicly campaigns, civil disobedience, digital campaigning

publicity campaigns

an effort to convey information to the public. government publicity campaigns. The publicity campaign uses stickers with bright red lettering as well as newspaper advertisements. marketing. an advertising campaign for a particular product.

civil disobedience

a deliberate and public refusal to obey a law considered unjust

digital campaigning

an online effort to put forward by a pressure group to drive engagement, conversions, traffic, or awareness to a cause. The campaign ties in with the overarching goals of the group and includes one or more digital channels in the efforts

social movement

a widely shared demand for change in some aspect of the social or political order

example of a social movement

name - occupy campaign
nature of pressure - demonstration, civil disobedience, online campaigning

single issue campaigns

involves political campaigning or political support based on one essential policy area or idea.

example of a single issue campaigns

name - campaign against a third heathrow runway
nature of pressure - illegal obstruction of the airport, digital campaigns, media representation, lobbying parliament, recruiting sympathetic local MPs

trade unions

an organised association of workers in a trade, group of trades, or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests.

example of trade unions and professional associations

name - British medical assassination
reason for pressure - strikes, non-cooperation and demonstrations, using sympathies MPs, lobbying parliment

professional associations

usually a nonprofit organisation seeking to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals engaged in that profession and the public interest.

strikes

times when workers refuse to work until owners improve conditions

non-cooperation

a form of industrial action when employees refuse to comply with new working practices

an example of how companies and industries use pressure

name - Starbucks
nature of pressure - negotiating with government for favourable treatment

policies/ actions of old labour

• the creation of the welfare state, including the NHS in the 1940's

• trade unions were granted wider powers to take industrial action in the interest of their members

• major industries were brought into public ownership and state control in the interests of the community and the workers in those industries, such as the rail ways and energy sector

• taxes on those earning higher incomes were raised in order to pay for the welfare state -discrimination against women and ethnic minorities was introduced in the 1960's to improve equality of opportunities

values of old labour

• the key was equality

• governments must favour the interests of the disadvantaged working class

• equality of opportunity, as total equality was not feasible

• collectivism

• trade unionism

• common ownership -welfarism

• statism

the welfare state

a system whereby the state undertakes to protect the health and well-being of its citizens, especially those in financial or social need, by means of grants, pensions, and other benefits. The foundations for the modern welfare state in the UK were laid by the Beveridge Report of 1942; proposals such as the establishment of a National Health Service and the National Insurance Scheme were implemented by the Labour administration in 1948.

collectivism

the practice or principle of giving a group priority over each individual in it.

trade unionism

the system, methods, or practice of trade or labour unions.

common ownership

holding the assets of an organisation, enterprise or community indivisibly rather than in the names of the individual members or groups of members as common property. Forms of common ownership exist in every economic system.

welfarism

the principles or policies associated with a welfare state.