Economy Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats Green Party UKIP
Economy Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats Green Party UKIP SNP Plaid Cymru Taxation Welfare Education NHS Foreign policy Environment Immigration
L 12 - Mandates and Manifestos L. O. to develop an understanding of the role of mandates and manifestos in party politics in the UK. Key words: Mandate = the authority on which you rest to do something in politics. E. g. the vote for the leader is the mandate to put their polices into action. Manifesto = a series of promises put into a document that outlines the parties’ intentions if they win power. Demographic time bomb = a problem that will occur in the future due to changes in the make up of the population. The Conservatives face a problem as their aging white base dies.
Political parties prevent the realisation of real democracy in the UK. Agree Disagree Elections every 5 years mean that parties can waiver from their manifesto pledges once in power Members of Parliament do no t always vote with their party showing that democray is maintained despite parites. Parites have ideological platforms. Voters may only agree with part of these but their vote supports the whole platform. x Enable citizens to unite around their broad similiarities to win votes in parliamewnt to ensure change. The two party system dominates our political landsacepe and leaves little choice for the electorate. Political parites act as a mouth piece for local issues at a national level. Local people can express their views through the party. Ideolgoical stand poinst prevent free discussion or analysius of ideas. Parities listen to people and create manifestos and policy on the basis of what they told. Party machines employ lots of people whose main interest is the continuation of their job, over the democratic representation of the people Political paties form the links between local and national poltics. Political parites enage with other political actors, like
Homework Research the different structures of the Labour and Conservative parties and draw a diagram to demonstrate them. Read Political Parties – Do they promote political participation? Answer the questions and the end if the article.
Read the party Manifestos from 2015 and complete the chart Economy Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats Green Party UKIP SNP Plaid Cymru Taxation Welfare Education NHS Foreign policy Environment Immigration
Questions What are the most significant differences between the parties? What are the most significant similarities between the parties? Which parties’ manifesto would you vote for? The Conservatives are the party of economic prudence and the Labour party are the party of profligacy. TWE do you agree?
Homework 1. Research the 2017 manifestos. Create a boiled down version of the Labour and Conservative manifestos. Be ready to debate them next lesson. 2. Read ‘How should parties be funded? ’ – answer the questions at the end of the article.
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