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"Elections - Great Britain"
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Election timing
The author proposes & tests an informational theory of endogenous election timing that explains when leaders call for elections & the consequences of their decisions. He argues that, all else being equal, leaders announce elections when they anticipate a decline in their future performance.
Book
Democracy and the Vote in British Politics, 1848-1867
The Second Reform Act, passed in 1867, created a million new voters, doubling the electorate and propelling the British state into the age of mass politics. It marked the end of a twenty year struggle for the working class vote, in which seven different governments had promised change. Yet the standard works on 1867 are more than forty years old and no study has ever been published of reform in prior decades.
This study provides the first analysis of the subject from 1848 to 1867, ranging from the demise of Chartism to the passage of the Second Reform Act. Recapturing the vibrancy of the issue and its place at the heart of Victorian political culture, it focuses not only on the reform debate itself, but on a whole series of related controversies, including the growth of trade unionism, the impact of the 1848 revolutions and the discussion of French and American democracy.
eBook
Putting voters in their place : geography and elections in Great Britain
Why do people living in different areas vote in different ways? Why does this change over time? How do people talk about politics with friends and neighbours, and with what effect? Does the geography of well-being influence the geography of party support? Do parties try to talk to all voters at election time, or are they interested only in the views of a small number of voters living in a small number of seats? Is electoral participation in decline, and how does the geography of the vote affect this? How can a party win a majority of seats in Parliament without a majority of votes in the country? This book explores these questions by placing the analysis of electoral behaviour into its geographical context. Using information from the latest elections, including the 2005 General Election, the book shows how both voters and parties are affected by, and seek to influence, both national and local forces. Trends are set in the context of the latest research and scholarship on electoral behaviour. The book also reports on new research findings.
eBook
Electing Our Masters
This book covers the history of British electioneering from the 18th century right up to the present day. It explores the relationship between British politicians and their public as well as the important changes that have taken place, especially in the television age. It examines what the current state of electioneering in Britain implies for the future, asking questions as to how the media can shape that future. The book argues that in the past, British politics has been characterized by public rituals, intended to make politicians more legitimate by obliging them to face an often irreverent public. In 18th-century politics and Victorian and Edwardian elections, face-to-face interaction was central. This continued between the wars, despite the emergence of the new mass communication media of radio and cinema. However, the same cannot be said of the post-war era and the rise of television. Today, most politicians are content to offer the semblance of meaningful engagement with the public — hence, meetings are designed to ensure that politicians only come into contact with their party. Where Lloyd George and Churchill relished a tumultuous public meeting, their modern counterparts are more risk-averse. This book questions whether we can persuade our broadcasters that encounters with the public must form a staple of modern politics.
eBook
British General Elections Since 1964
Despite a recent decline in voter turnout, British general elections are still the centrepiece of Britain's liberal democracy and their results make a real difference to every British citizen. They command strong media interest long before their dates are announced and even uneventful campaigns dominate the headlines. The 2010 general election saw the first direct televised debates between the main party leaders, adding further interest to a battle which was always likely to be close. The result was a ‘hung parliament’ and the first British coalition government since 1945. However, as this book shows these were only the latest manifestations of a transformation in British elections which began in the early 1960s. While some election rituals remain intact — the counting of votes by hand, the solemn declaration of individual constituency results and, most importantly, the peaceful handover of power if the incumbent party loses — almost everything of significance has changed. Voters have very different attitudes; fewer of them have party loyalties which are more than skin deep, and they tend to base their choices on ‘short-term’ factors such as the perceived competence of the parties and the image of the leader. The parties themselves are barely recognisable from the institutions of 1964 — not least because their membership figures have dwindled dramatically. Election campaigns are now heavily centralised and focus obsessively on a handful of target seats.
eBook
Local Elections in Britain
Exploring the historical context, the structure and method of operation, Local Elections in Britain clearly addresses the key issues and confusions that surround the local election system including:* the nature and extent of electoral participation including the crucial issue of low turnout* the candidates, and the growing proportion of women challenging for council seats* the performance of political parties, now a central feature of local elections* the dangers of viewing local elections as national opinion pollsDrawing on the results of more than 100,000 local elections dating back over three decades the book is the most comprehensive study of local elections in Britain.
eBook