Question 1EITHER1(a)This source is adapted from a2014 article published online9June 2014by the international internet-based market research company YouGov.In 1967 Peter Pulzer, a distinguished political scientist, wrote: ‘Class is the basis of British politics’. He had good reason to say this. Labour had won the general election a year earlier by winning more than 60% of working class votes. It secured the votes of only one in four middle class voters, who preferred the Tories by more than two-to-one.Today, Britain’s economic and social structure is completely different; and so is the nature of party loyalties. Using the same yardstick as in the 1960s –whether the job of the head of each voter’s household is essentially manual (C2DE) or non-manual (ABC1) –the class gapis far narrower. In a YouGovsurvey of more than 3000 electors, Labour enjoyed a 1% lead among ABC1 voters, and a 6% lead among C2DE voters –a class gap of five points. However, these figures fail to tell the full story. Social class may no longer affectvotes as powerfully as it used to –but its influence is still far greater than conventional polls suggest.
GCEA level (Part 2) Politics■Section5■Assignment 5© 2018The Open School Trust –National Extension College3As well as ascertaining their conventional class position, we asked people whether they regarded themselves as ‘working class’, ‘middle class’ or ‘upper class’. It turns out that almost one adult in three gives the ‘wrong’answer: nine million ABC1 adults consider themselves working class, while five million C2DE adults say they are middle class. When we analyse party support by the social class people give themselves, we find a much larger gulf between ‘middle’ and ‘working’class voters than between ABC1 and C2DE voters. Among ‘middle class’voters, the Tories lead Labour by 16 –while Labour is 21% ahead among ‘working class’voters. This time the class gap is a huge 37 points. The link between occupation and politics may have fractured, but that between people’s self-perception and party support still matters.Those who believe that either social class still matters in the traditional way, or doesn’t matter at all, are both wrong. Social class is still a significant factor in British politics, but the nature of that factor has changed utterly. In this, as in so much else, the past is truly another country.(Source: Peter Kellner,The changing politics of social classhttps://yougov.co.uk/news/2014/06/09/changing-politics-social-class/)Using the source, evaluate the view that class-based voting has declined in importance in UK general elections.In your response you must:ncompare the different opinions in the sourcenconsider the view and the alternative view in a balanced waynuse a balance of knowledge and understanding both arising from the source and beyond the source to help you to analyse and evaluate.OR1(b)This source is adapted from an article on the website of the news and media companyBloomberg 8May 2015, just after the general election of that year. After 70 years of stable, two-party rule, the growing appeal of smaller parties is upendingBritish politics. The election broughtunprecedented support for parties focused on targeted causes such as pulling Britain out of the European Union and winning independence for Scotland. Italso renewed calls to change theUK’s electoral system.About a third of voters didn’t select one of the main parties.The Scottish National Party swept aside Labour towin 56 of 59 seats in Scotland. Because the party isconcentrated in a single area, it became the third-biggest group in Westminsterwith just 4 percent of the UKpopular vote. A similar share of the ballots were cast for the Green Party, though they were spread through the country, which gave it only a single seat in the 650-member House of Commons. TheUKIndependence Party, which has thrilled economically marginalized parts of England by pushing for Britain toleave the EUand stem the flow of immigrants, was the favorite of 13 percent of the electorate –3.9 million voters –and secured only one member of Parliament.The UK’s district-by-district winner-takes-all voting system makes it difficult for smaller parties to gain many slots in Parliament. Several of the UK’s smaller
GCE A level
(Part 2) Politics■Section 5■Assignment 54© 2018The Open School Trust –National Extension Collegeparties, including the Liberal Democrats, have long advocated a shift to more proportional representation, where seats better reflect the share of the vote. A UKreferendum on changing to a so-called alternative vote system that ranks candidates in order of preference failedin May 2011.The rise of smaller parties has stirred passions and revived interest in politics, which could help reverse a decade-long slidein party membership. The end of two-party politics has also added urgency to the debateabout how to evolve the system to make it more democratic.Some politicians saythereis scope to consider a more federal system, which could help avoid another push toward independence in Scotland.(Source: Robert Hutton,Britain’s multiparty politics https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/britains-multiparty-politics)Using the source, evaluate the view that the United Kingdom now has a multiparty political system.In your response you must:ncompare the different opinions in the sourcenconsider the view and the alternative view in a balanced waynuse a balance of knowledge and understanding both arising from the source and beyond the source to help you to analyse and evaluate.
Question 2 EITHER
2(a) Evaluate the view that there is a democratic deficit in the UK today.You must consider this view and the alternative to this view in a balanced way.
OR
2(b) Evaluate the view that pressure and lobby groups wield significant influence on British democracy.You must consider this view and the alternative to this view in a balanced way.Section B:Corepolitical ideasAnswer
EITHER
Question 3(a) ORQuestion 3(b).The Section B question is worth 24 marks.EITHER3(a) To what extent is there agreement betweenmodern and classical liberals?
GCEA level
(Part 2) Politics■Section5■Assignment 5© 2018The Open School Trust –National Extension College5You must use appropriate thinkers you have studied to support your answer and consider both sides in a balanced way.OR3(b) To what extent do different conservatives agree on the importance of the state?You must use appropriate thinkers you have studied to support your answer and considerboth sides in a balanced way.
