Voting Behaviour and the Media | Edexcel A-Level Politics (9PL0)
Voting Behaviour and the Media
- 63 questions
- 5 subtopics
- Component 1: UK politics
- Component 1
Covers why people vote the way they do, worked through the general elections of 1979, 1997 and 2010: the results themselves, the policies and campaigns that shaped them, the social factors behind party support, and the influence of the press and broadcasters..
It covers the 1979, 1997 and 2010 general election results, why elections are won and lost, class, partisanship and social factors, analysing voting behaviour data and the influence of the media.
Sample questions from Voting Behaviour and the Media
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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The 1979, 1997 and 2010 general election results
What was the scale of Labour's victory in the 1997 general election?
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Labour won 418 seats with 43.2% of the vote, achieving a landslide majority of 179 seats—the largest in the party's history. -
The 1979, 1997 and 2010 general election results
What were the results of the 2010 general election?
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Conservatives won 306 seats (36.1%), Labour won 258 seats (29.0%), and Liberal Democrats won 57 seats (23.0%). No party achieved an overall majority. -
Why elections are won and lost
How did Conservative policies contribute to their defeat in 1997?
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The Conservatives were divided over Europe, associated with unpopular policies like the poll tax, and seen as out of touch after 18 years, while Labour had neutralised traditional Conservative advantages on the economy. -
Why elections are won and lost
How do economic conditions affect election outcomes?
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Economic conditions strongly influence voting; governments tend to be rewarded for prosperity and punished for recession, unemployment, or inflation, as voters often engage in retrospective economic voting. -
Class, partisanship and social factors
How does gender influence voting behaviour in UK elections?
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Historically, women were more likely to vote Conservative, but this gender gap has narrowed or reversed in recent elections, with younger women now more likely to support Labour. -
Class, partisanship and social factors
How do gender, age, ethnicity and region affect voter turnout?
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Turnout varies by demographic: older voters have higher turnout than younger voters; turnout is often lower among ethnic minorities; women's turnout now matches or exceeds men's; and turnout varies by region with safer seats often seeing lower participation. -
Analysing voting behaviour data
Why do voting-behaviour patterns vary between elections?
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Patterns vary due to changing short-term factors (leaders, issues, campaigns, economic conditions), long-term social changes (class and partisan dealignment), and shifts in party positioning and appeal to different voter groups. -
Analysing voting behaviour data
What do issue voting explanations emphasise about voter behaviour?
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Issue voting explanations emphasise rational choice, arguing that voters evaluate party policies on salient issues and vote for the party whose positions most closely match their own preferences.
The 5 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| The 1979, 1997 and 2010 general election results | Recall questions on the seat and vote shares in each of the three case study elections and what each result meant for the winning and losing parties. | 13 |
| Why elections are won and lost | Recall questions on the part played by policy, manifestos, campaign strategy, the economy and a government's record in deciding an election. | 13 |
| Class, partisanship and social factors | Recall questions on class voting and partisanship, how gender, age, ethnicity and region shape the vote, and how those patterns have shifted. | 10 |
| Analysing voting behaviour data | Recall questions on opinion polls, election results data and the British Election Study, class and partisan dealignment, class-based against issue voting, and long-term against short-term factors. | 13 |
| The influence of the media | Recall questions on when the media shapes outcomes, opinion polls and the bandwagon effect and tactical voting they can cause, judging a poll’s relevance, media bias and persuasion, whether the media reflects or shapes opinion, and agenda-setting. | 14 |
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
Edexcel A-Level Politics Active Recall Guide
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