The Importance of Class to Voting Behavior
One of the main factors for voting behaviour is class but how
important is it. Conventionally. Class is seen in the terms of
occupation. Those who are in manual jobs are placed in the 'Working
Class' and are expected to vote fro the labour party. Whilst those in
non-manual jobs are to be found in the 'Middle Class' and are expected
to vote for the Conservatives. The majority of people belong to the
working class sector and therefore ideally if class was the most
important factor then Labour would when every single election. During
1945 and 1970 elections, of course this did not happen labour was not
elected at every election. As they were not elected either many
working class people did not bother to vote or the was some
cross-class voting, some manual workers voting for the conservatives.
There is a theory called 'Embourgeoisement' which means that with
rising pay levels and better living conditions people are now starting
to consider themselves as middle class when they were really working
and then they would vote for the new ideal party the conservatives and
the labour party would lose out. Despite a significant number of
working class Conservatives, voters the voting during 1945-1970 seemed
to suggest quite strong class alignment this is when people vote for
whom they are supposed to according to their classes. In other words,
they vote for their natural party. So most manual workers voters voted
for the labour party and most non-manual workers voted for the
conservatives. However, since then a number of political scientists
have suggested that a class dealignment is in process. They ar...
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...ment of new political
alignments, largely irrespective of whether employees are in manual or
non-manual occupations. Dunleavy and Husband argue that new alignments
have been developing which relate party choice to patens of
consumption. These new alignments, they argue, cut across the
manual/non-manual class alignments.
In conclusion although there has been a degree of class dealignment
class in voting behaviour is still important. Meanwhile there is a
relationship between class and region for example in the south of
England it contains a higher proportion of middle class homeowners
than the north, this could partly account for the conservative
predominance in the north and the labour stronghold in the south. But
class is not the most important factor in voting behaviour as
geography still is the number 1 factor.
In the run up to the election therefore the Liberals won the working class support. It was perhaps the working class who had the biggest effect on the result of the election, this proved to be in favour of the Liberal Party.
Class is a key idea related to inequality, prejudice and discrimination in Australian society. It has been considered out of fashion, because some Australian people think that there is no class difference between people in Australia, everyone enjoys equality in society. In fact, the recent de-regulation of the workplace, and the widening gap in access to hospitals, schools and employment opportunities between the rich and poor, have made class more visible in Australian than ever before. Class is "a category of people who have generally similar educational histories, job opportunities, and social standing and who are conscious of their membership in a social group that is ranked in relation to others and is replicated over generations" (Kent, 1998:87). This essay argues that class cause continues to inequality in Australian society. Firstly, class structures labor market inequality. Secondly, class shapes the quality of a person's life. Thirdly, class inequality produces continuing class differences into the next generation. Finally, class has becoming a debate in Australian society, because class inequality encourages the `right' people to work more efficiently in the workforce and helps people to identify themselves in society, but continuing relevance of the concept of class is a matter in contemporary Australia.
If you have ever read the book 1984 by George Orwell, then an interesting topic may have crossed your mind. The way the classes of people break down can be quite similar, and very different at times. In the United States, we have classes like the lower class, the working class, and the middle class. In 1984, there were such classes as the Proles, the Outer Party, and the Inner Party. The way the classes are broken down in 1984 reminds me a little bit of my old history class. When I studied medieval times and the classes back then were broken down into the nobles, the bourgeois, and the serfs.
thought. The middle working class, or the “regular'; party, did all the work that the inner party wanted to be done, in order to keep the population, including themselves, in control of everyone. The third, and lowest, class is the proles. The party does not even watch or
Among the many ways Americans can participate in politics, voting is considered one of the most common and important ways for Americans to get involved. The outcome of any election, especially at the national level, determines who will be making and enforcing the laws that all Americans must abide by. With this in mind one might assume that all Americans are active voters, but studies show the voter turnout is actually astonishingly low. With this unsettling trend it is important to know what statistics say about voter turnout as was as the four major factors that influence participation: Socioeconomic status, education, political environment, and state electoral laws, in order to help boost turnout in future elections.
middle of paper ... ... d therefore the smaller parties can be considered to have very little effect on the overall political situation. In conclusion, the UK can still best be described as a two party system, provided two considerations are taken into account. The first is that Conservative dominance victories between 1979-97 was not a suggestion of party dominance and that eventually, the swing of the political pendulum will be even for both sides. This can perhaps be seen today with Labour's two landslide victories in 1997 and 2001.
Voters in many areas of the U.S. are apt to vote differently as a whole from election to election. The nation has also had a decreased turnout rate for the presidential and local elections. The South has typically not followed these patterns that the rest of has seemed to be following. The Southern whites of the U.S. have typically followed and voted for the more conservative candidate and party.
The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, has many social class conflicts presented in the book. The main thing that Steinbeck concentrates on is the fact that if a man had land he had a name, he had a purpose. Though some men in the 1930’s were living in poverty and having to struggle to provide for their family, they still had a place, their land kept them grounded, they didn’t feel like they were ultimately losing everything. Steinbeck tells a story about a family that got their land taken away from them and their struggle to continue on with their lives.
The United States is an inspiration of liberty and hope for nations around the world. It is a nation with citizens who have the unalienable rights of, “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” and a model for how democratic nations should be ordered and maneuvered due to its intrinsic values that are held. Democracy is a system of government where the citizens are responsible for shaping their nation to represent who they are and what they stand for. The people have the ultimate power in the nation. However, as no pure direct democracy exists in any nation, an indirect democracy arises, where people vote to elect representatives, who then in turn make the greater part of decisions for the nation.
Living in a society where gender matters and is one of the main attention seeking in every aspect whether it is involved with politics, governments, and as well as individuals within a community. Men and women were created equal at birth; yet, we are brought up and nurtured by the society that we let it control our thoughts and minds, and believing that women are not equally as men. Gender was separated at birth, in order for society to tell the difference between a boy and a girl, therefore, boys often wear things that associated with the color blue and girls with pink. In a political world, gender tends to suffer a gap between male and female when it comes to voting for presidential candidates or elections. While most electable candidates want to gather as many votes as possible from both genders, women’s voting tends to deliver a bigger impact on who will win, due to the fact that the majority of women are likely to vote for female candidates, especially on political issues relating to women’s rights and movements than male candidates. Therefore, women candidates should target mostly at female voters, because they are likely to vote for their own gender and will support women candidates on political issues involving discrimination and domestic violence towards women.
During the second half of the past century the notion that, political science should be treated as a science became extremely popular among academics specially in the United States. One of the most prominent exposers of this school of thought was Anthony Downs, who developed a theorem to explain in a rather economic sense, how and why voters behave in a certain way when it comes to voting. Downs did not only applied his theory to the way voters behave, he also used it to explain the way political parties align themselves when it comes to elections in a two and a multiparty system nevertheless this essay will analyze Downs’ claims about a two party system only. This essay argues that the Downs’ model has proven to be accurate in many cases throughout history, nevertheless it makes a series of assumptions about voters and parties that can not be considered realistic neither in 1957, when he published his paper An Economic Theory of Political Action in Democracy in 1957 nor in 2013. This essay also acknowledges that fact that this theory might help to explain how parties behave but it is by no means the only explanation. Furthermore this essay will prove that it is a multiplicity of factors rather than an economic theory what can help us understand why parties behave the way they do. In order to support the argument previously stated this essay will state and critically analyze a number of Downs assumptions, then his theory will be outlined. Then it will carefully consider how effective it has been at predicting the way in which parties align themselves by examining the behavior of political parties during general elections in different countries.
The traditional Marxist explanation of class inequality in the contemporary UK is based on Marx. Marx saw society as a structure divided into two major parts - the first and most important structure is the economic base referred to as the infrastructure. The second major part consists of the rest of society, such as political, legal and education systems, beliefs and ideas. This part is referred to as the superstructure. Marx claimed that the infrastructure shapes the superstructure as the economic system shapes the rest of society. For example, the education system in a modern industrial society has been shaped by the requirements of a capitalist economy for a literate and well-disciplined workforce. Marx saw social class in two major social groups - a ruling class and a subject class. The power of the ruling class, the Bourgeoisie comes from their ownership of the means of productive, including the land, raw materials and machinery used to produce goods. The Bourgeoisie oppress the subject class. The subject class, the Proletariat is made up of workers who own only their labour which they hire to the Bourgeoisie in exchange for wages. Marx believed that the relationship between the classes in one of
All these types discrimination work to create an undeniable presumption everyone should make ,which has the power to destroy people and their social morale.All of these types of discrimination are in place because of people who differ from the apex heterosexual ,caucasian male, that has access to wealth and resources.Because the United states is ever changing and becoming more diverse by each decade discrimination becomes more and more common because the masses of the society diverges from the apex rich white male. Classism is in place to cause people of higher class to presume negativity about anyone that appears flower class including lesser intelligence and
Zweig makes a claim that class has a “pervasive influence on the way we live, work and think” (2). Class has an effect on most aspects of our lives, from how we are raised, our education, the way we live, to the politics around us.
The term “class” has been interpreted in many ways by sociologists. One popular interpretation comes from Karl Marx, who explained “class” in a relatively narrower economic perspective. According to Marx (1966), classes exist with “the identity of revenues and sources of revenues” (p. 5), and the differences in revenues lead to the formation of a ruling class which owns the means of production and an opposing class which do not (Bendix & Lipset, Pp.6-11). Hence, to Marx, economic factor is, and only it can be, a cause of the formation of classes. Another interpretation was made by Max Weber. Weber (1966) agreed with Marx that the ownership of property would lead to the formation of classes. Yet, apart from it, power and prestige also play vital roles in constituting a class. With property, power or prestige, one group of people enjoy higher status than the others, and this thus form different classes. Because of so many interpretations of “class”, Ossowski (1966) generalized different conceptions of social class into four characteristics: (1) the vertical order of social class; (2) distinctness of permanent class interests; (3) class consciousness; and (4) class boundaries and social intercourse barriers (P. 92). Given the four characteristics of classes, this essay will first discuss the importance of social classes in terms of its impact on life chances, and then analyze how the kind of social stratification is reinforced in different ways.