Elections and Referendums | AQA A-Level Politics (7152)
Elections and Referendums
- 121 questions
- 8 subtopics
- Paper 1: government and politics of the UK
- Paper 1
The electoral systems used across the UK and what each does to a result, three general elections that turned on something, why people vote as they do, and the place of referendums..
It covers majoritarian and Proportional Systems, the Additional Member System, STV and Other Systems, the 1945 and 1979 General Elections, the 1997 and 2010 General Elections, models of Voting Behaviour, leadership, Manifestos, Campaigns and the Media, the Nature and Use of Referendums and regulating Referendums, and the Case For and Against.
Sample questions from Elections and Referendums
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Majoritarian and Proportional Systems
What is a wasted vote?
Show the answer
It is a vote that contributes nothing to the outcome, either cast for a losing candidate or piled up beyond the number the winner needed. -
The Additional Member System, STV and Other Systems
What is the quota in a single transferable vote count, and what happens to surplus votes?
Show the answer
The quota is the minimum number of votes needed to be certain of election, and votes a candidate holds above it are transferred to voters' next preferences at a reduced value. -
The 1945 and 1979 General Elections
Which crisis immediately preceded the 1979 general election?
Show the answer
The Winter of Discontent of 1978 to 1979, a wave of public-sector strikes over pay restraint that left rubbish uncollected and services disrupted. -
The 1997 and 2010 General Elections
Why was 1997 significant for the representation of women?
Show the answer
A record number of women were elected, over a hundred of them Labour, following the party's use of all-women shortlists in selected seats. -
Models of Voting Behaviour
What is valence voting?
Show the answer
Valence voting is choosing on the basis of which party seems most competent to deliver widely shared goals such as a strong economy and good public services, rather than on ideological disagreement. -
Leadership, Manifestos, Campaigns and the Media
What is meant by micro-targeting in a modern campaign?
Show the answer
It is the use of data on individual voters to send tailored digital messages to narrow groups, so different voters see different arguments from the same party. -
The Nature and Use of Referendums
What happened in the 1979 devolution referendums?
Show the answer
Wales rejected an assembly decisively, and although a narrow majority of Scottish voters said yes, the result failed a rule requiring the support of 40 per cent of the whole electorate. -
Regulating Referendums, and the Case For and Against
Give three arguments against using referendums in the UK.
Show the answer
They undermine representative government and parliamentary sovereignty, they reduce complex questions to a binary choice, and campaigns can be dominated by emotive or misleading claims.
The 8 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Majoritarian and Proportional Systems | Recall questions on what defines each type, which is used for the Commons and how a candidate can win on well under half the vote. | 13 |
| The Additional Member System, STV and Other Systems | Recall questions on the additional member system in Scotland, the single transferable vote in Northern Ireland, the supplementary vote, closed lists and the alternative vote, and how each electoral system shapes the party system. | 21 |
| The 1945 and 1979 General Elections | Recall questions on why 1945 is treated as a turning point, what a landslide is, and the crisis and confidence vote that ended the Callaghan government. | 8 |
| The 1997 and 2010 General Elections | Recall questions on the outcomes and causes of the 1997 Labour landslide and the 2010 hung Parliament, the coalition that followed, and what makes a general election significant for the mandate and for policy. | 22 |
| Models of Voting Behaviour | Recall questions on what voting behaviour means and on the primacy, recency and party identification models. | 14 |
| Leadership, Manifestos, Campaigns and the Media | Recall questions on how leadership, manifestos and campaigns affect voting, the air and ground wars, broadcast and press regulation, theories of media influence, opinion polls and issue salience. | 18 |
| The Nature and Use of Referendums | Recall questions on what a referendum is, why UK referendums are advisory, why they are nonetheless treated as decisive, and the first UK-wide vote. | 15 |
| Regulating Referendums, and the Case For and Against | Recall questions on the body that regulates them, why the 2016 question was reworded, and the arguments on each side. | 10 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
AQA A-Level Politics Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 2,215 questions with their answers.