Democracy in Britain

This is a second-year undergraduate module that I co-convene with Nick Allen. My half of the course focuses on elections in one way or another – from the expansion of the franchise and the development of the British party system, to political participation and voting behaviour.

Week 1: Democratisation and the expansion of the franchise

This week will look at the chronology of what happened when with regard to the democratization of Britain and evaluate competing theories that try to explain why Britain democratized.

Week 2: The origins and development of the British party system

This week we look and the origins and development of the main political factions in British politics before 1918 and why political parties in their modern, institutionalized, form emerged in the second half of the 19th century. We also explore why Labour replaced the Liberals as one of the major political parties in the early 20th century and think about the importance of path dependency as it relates to the British party system.

Week 3: The Modern Party System(s)

This week we look at the development of the British Party system since 1918. We look at the way party system fragmentation is measured and evaluate the consequences of party system fragmentation for British democracy. We also look at different ways of measuring programmatic competition and the ways in which programmatic competition between the Conservatives and Labour has evolved over time.

Week 4: Political participation

This week we look at the overall pattern of turnout at general elections since 1918 and how it compares to other types of elections We explore the role that political knowledge, norms, and efficacy all play in making some people more likely to turn out to vote than others and look how they helps explain why young adults are less likely to vote than older people.

Week 5: Parties and their members

This week we explore the ’three faces of party organisation’ and the different ways in which these faces interact, in particular looking at the role that members play in different political parties. We discuss May’s ‘Law of Curvilinear Disparity’ and examine demographic and attitudinal differences between party members and party supporters, and think about the implications of these differences for British democracy.

Week 6: The Mechanics of Democracy: Electoral Systems

This week we look at the mechanics of the different types of electoral systems we use in the UK. We explore the impact that different electoral systems have on party competition and evaluate how well the First Past the Post electoral system works for Westminster elections and discuss the prospects for electoral reform.

Week 7: Class and voting

This week we explore why people that share demographic characteristics might vote in similar ways, using the example of social class. We look at the way the relationship between class and vote choice in Britain has evolved over time and evaluate the role of social change and party strategy in driving those changes.

Week 8: Electoral shocks

This week we look at the rise of voter volaility and the role that electoral shocks have played in driving vote choice in recent elections, drawing on my book of the same name.

Week 9: The News Media and Democracy

This week we look at the role of the media in political attitudes and votnig behaviour. We discuss the competing ‘media malaise’ and ‘minimal effects’ paradigms, why selection bias makes studying media effects particularly difficult and assess the evidence for whether the media really matters.

Week 10: Why people hate politics

We conclude the course by looking at trends in democratic satisfaction in Britain over the past few decades and using what we’ve learned to evaluate evidence for what has driven democratic dissatisfaction in Britain.