Political parties

what is a political party

an organized group of people who share similar political beliefs and work together to gain political power or influence the government.

an example of a country with one party dominance

russia, North Korea, china

example of a country with a two party system

UK — Labour and Conservatives

Two and a half party system

UK — 2010 Coalition of Conservatives and Lib Dems

Multi party system

when lots of many different parties are running the country such as Netherland.

a brief history of political parties

17-19th century: after the English civil war Whigs (liberals) and Tories (conservatives) were running the country

Late 19th-20th century: Rise of Labour and decline of liberals. A two-party system is created.

21st century: greater diversity and smaller movements creating a multi party fee; within the overarching two party dominance. eg. green reform.

characteristics of left wing parties

Like govt involvement

higher taxes

likes the welfare state

more open to alternative lifestyle eg gay marriage

likes trade unions

characteristics of right wing parties

less government involvement

lower taxes

likes the private sector

likes traditions

hates trade unions

electing a leader

labour: labour mp nominate candidates and then vote for a shortlist of them

conservatives: conservatives mp will decide on two mps who then the members will vote for.

how does the leader election affects democracy

it weakens it because only those who are the party members can actually vote for the members. additionally, in order to become a party member you need to pay money which could lead to inequality as not everyone ca afford to pay leading to poorer groups getting unrepresented.

however, those people who are in the party are better in politics so they actually understand who is more likely to become a better leader that will benefit the country. additionally even if it was free to vote for a party member some people still wouldn’t because its too much voting leading to a participation crisis and law turnouts leading to a lower legitimacy

policy formulation (manifesto)

these are policies and ideas the party is aiming to do if is elected as a governing party. after an election they receive a mandate from people to carry out these policies.

They also have the doctors mandate where in case of an emergency they are allowed to include a legislation/policy which wasn’t originally included in the manifesto. For example BOJO and Covid-19 legislation to keep the county safe.

how does the manifesto impact democracy

this allows people to understand what are they voting for and therefore makes their mandate strong and thoughtful leading to the government being legitimate and responsible to carry out their promised policies and represent people — increases democracy

in case of an emergency — people dint give their mandate for it. also the party won’t always do everything they had to — less democracy

making the govt to work

without political parties there wouldn’t have been an effective govt

how does it affect democracy

good — more representation from all kind of parties

bad — two party dominance — some of the parties like green barely get any representation

selecting a candidate for an election

the local party members approve the candidate and give a mandate for they to represent the party of their constituency in the House of Commons

how does it affect democracy

bad —- only party members can decide

good — only they normally have the expertise to do so

representation

in 2019 75.7% of those who voted said they felt like were represented by the labour or conservative

good — minority groups representation

bad — smaller parties barely get any say

campaigning

orates spend time to educate people about their manifesto ect

good — they understand what they vote for

bad — they can influence too much depending on how big and influential the party is — eg 2014 Scotland Independence referendum

how much money from the state is given to the main parties for policy advisors

2million pounds

who are the policy advisors

they look at the ideas of how the govt should be run and help to come up with effective policies and legislations

what are the short money

they are given to the opposition parties in the House of Commons and don’t cover campaigning and election experiences — only the work in the government. a leader of opposition gets over a million of pounds. — loto

what are the Cranbourne money?

they are given to an opposition party in the House of Lords and again do not cover campaigning

why is short Money important for democratic system

Opposition can scrunitice effectively

the can progress and get ready for a new GE

smaller parties can have a platform to advance to HoC — more representation

stops dominance of one governing party

what is the importance of donations?

state funding don’t cover campaigning and election expense so the parties need donations and subscriptions

how much did the conservatives get in 2019 GE

63% of all political donations

how much donations went to the Labour Party from trade unions

in 2019, 93% of donations to the labour case from the Trade Unions

what are the limitations

parties must declare donations over 7,500 pounds and cannot spend more that 30,000 pounds in a constituency — this reduces corruption

what was the Peter cruddas scandal

in 2020 BOJO nominated Cruddas a peerage in the House of Lords after he donated 3 million pounds to the conservatives and previously was in trouble for allegations that he offered access to the PM for a cash donation of 250,00 pounds. this leads to cronies and is not good for the country — eg the Russian oligarch who only had 3% attendance