Student Resources - Chapter five
Chapter Five: Case Studies of Recent General Elections
SETTING THE SCENE
The last three chapters have focused largely on voting and elections, participation and referendums, the electoral processes themselves and why people vote the way they do. This chapter looks at how these work out in practice, by investigating the results of three general elections: 1997, 2001 and 2005. We start by outlining the outcome of these three elections, all of which resulted in a Labour victory, and then move on to trying to give explanations for these results. The explanations are largely of the political, or short-term sort, to use the classification given in the previous chapter.
KEY TOPICS
- Elections as turning-points and landslides
- The 1997 general election
- Why Labour won in 1997
- The 2001 general election
- Why Labour won again in 2001
- The 2005 general election
- Why Labour won again in 2005
Are any of the terms below unclear to you? If so, perhaps you should look over this chapter or use the searchable glossary to familiarise yourself with these terms.
- Landslide election
- Tactical voting
- New Labour
- Spin
- One-party dominance
Matching Exercise: Chapter Five
| Landslide election | A way of voting that involves the voter in deciding to vote for anyone who has a chance of defeating the candidate of a particular party. |
| Tactical voting | A system where only one political party can realistically become the government. |
| New Labour | An election which gives the winner a large majority and which is also a turning point, bringing in a new party to government. |
| Spin | The brand of the reformed Labour Party and its new social democratic policies. |
| One-party dominance | A way of voting that involves the voter in deciding to vote for anyone who has a chance of defeating the candidate of a particular party. |
Further Reading
D. Butler and D. Kavanagh, The British General Election of 1997 (Palgrave, 1997): since 1945, the veteran political scientist David Butler, now working with another great expert in the field, Dennis Kavanagh, has published a volume of analysis on the most recent election. It is here and in the next two books mentioned that you will find the best guide to the subject.
D. Butler and D. Kavanagh, The British General Election of 2001 (Palgrave, 2001).
D. Butler and D. Kavanagh, The British General Election of 2005 (Palgrave, 2005).
Websites
- www.electoralcommission.gov.uk (Electoral Commission)
- www.essex.ac.uk (British election study, academic study from University of Essex)
- www.mori.com (MORI, the pollsters)
- www.nrs.co.uk (National Readership Survey, newspaper circulation figures)
- www.icmresearch.co.uk (ICM Polls)
Multiple Choice Quiz 5
Click here to access the Multiple Choice Quiz for this Chapter.
Worksheet 1
Download Worksheet General Election of 2005 - handout
