Two-Party to Multi-Party Politics - Vernon Bogdanor
Vložit
- čas přidán 20. 05. 2018
- Between 1951 and 1959, over 95% of voters supported the two major parties. Since 1983, fewer than 80% have voted Conservative or Labour. How is the decline of the two party system to be explained?
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-an...
Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: gresham.ac.uk/support/
Thank you Prof. Vernon Bogdanor and Greshem College for making these lectures available. Very interesting and thought provoking. Looking forwards to more insightful observations and lectures to come.
"Primarily divisions of social class". Class conflict within a democratic state.. " Social homogeneity ". " in General Elections there were national swings ".." society is much more fluid " " unresolved quarrel between the Unionists and Nationalists ".." market liberalism ".
Thanks so much Professor Bogdanor and Gresham College for making this lecture available. I simply like when Professor Bogdanor starts his lecture with " but I have to begin with a confession "
Very informative lecture! Prof. Bagdnor is a great public speaker and even greater a scholar!
My favorite Professor!
Superb closing statement!
Thank you.
But could not one argue that pre-1910 elections were mostly 2 party system elections. Granted there was not universal suffrage but in the memories of a non-political scientists the 1910-1945 period of multi-party competition is the aberration and not the 1945-1970 period of 2 party domination. In many ways the 1945-1970 period can be viewed as the return to the historical norm as experienced in the 19th century.
This thought, however, raises an alternative possibility: That we go through periods of 50-60 years where one or other scenario is predominant: that from the 1832 Great Reform Act to 1885 and from 1945-74 were periods when the two party system reigned supreme, while the 60 years from the hung parliament election of 1885 to 1945 represented a more fragmented party system with fewer majority governments, and that perhaps from 2010 onwards we have entered a new era of similar fragmentation, instability and fewer majority governments.
Some might argue that 2019 has put paid to all that, but the reverse may be true: any Labour government elected in the 2020s is likely to be a minority government both because of the sheer number of seats it must claw back and also the likelihood that - barring Alec Salmond's new party fragmenting the nationalist vote - Labour will struggle to win many seats in Scotland, making a majority harder to achieve.
I found the observations at the end very interesting considering in Australian electoral system a current trend is developing of boutique parties that will later join in a coalition to govern .
This will allow a multipronged attack to discredit an isolated opponent
This will also allow 4A discredited section of your attack to be discarded and replaced with another for no loss of core credibility
I will watch coming elections with bated breath to see the outcome and how this Trump trend can be developed into a winning strategy
You are right
The brexit elections were exceptions. People had to vote as if it were a referendum. Vote for one party if you want to remain, and the other if you wish to leave. However, like heating up a surface, even when the cause disappears, the effect lasts, with the cause being Brexit and a ln election akin to a referendum, and the effect being a 'trend' towards a two-party system. Although, the heat will, over time, leave the surface, undrstand normal circumstances. Partisanship across the globe is increasing anyway, so that factor may slow down or even stop the logorithmic decline of this trend. It's as if, as we heat up the surface, the sun rises, and so that extra heat is enough to keep it at a constant temperature, or slow down the cooling effect.
No point in having a multi-Party system if all the Parties have the same policies
Paul Gavin - good point
Northern Irish parties are hardly identical to the rest of UK...
The problem is the UK uses a two party voting system for a multi-party country. Fight for proportional representation.