UK elections and the party system (1945/197)

*A classic two party system operated in Britain in the period (1945/1970) with 2
political parties (conservatives and labor) dominant in general elections and House oI
Commons.
* They were the only parties with a realistic chance oI holding oIIice and were able to
govern alone.
* The party competition was centripetal where both parties adopted moderate
ideological position to maximize their electoral appeal (vote share ), so ther were no
extremist party.
- tors Ior stability: Fac
1-Institutional Iactors: "simple plurality system FPTP (Iirst past the post)"
*the majoritarian electoral system made the vote Ior third parties considered to be a
wasted vote.
*two party system was maintained &voting Ior them was irrational behavior.
2- socio-economic Iactors:
a- Class & partisan alignment... Which means that there were strong correlation
between social class voting and behavior "where most electors voted Ior the party
representing the interests oI their social class, like that the working class voted Ior the
labour and the middle class voted Ior the conservatives"
- Party identiIication was reinIorced through socialization in the home school and
workplace, so the party competition was between 2 main parties.
b- Consensus politics... In this period the median voter was positioned on the center
leIt oI the political spectrum and the main parties oIIered variations on a political
consensus structured around Keynesianism and welIare state.
- system: - erosion oI the 2 party The
*the two party-system no longer operates in the national political arena, where the
share vote by the 2 parties Iall below 75, a third party has established itselI as an
important player in nationwide party competition.




system - oI two party erosion Factors account Ior the
*it wasn`t an institutional Iactor as the FPTP still the applicable one.
1- dealignment oI electorate in which the relationship between social class and voting
has been signiIicantly weakened.
Most voters Iorm judgments about the relative merits oI the main parties, and Iar
Iewer than previously attached to the main 2 parties.
2- New issue cleavages (enksamat) have emerged in the last 3 decades, cutting across
the class divisions that underpinned the post war party system.
Identity politics has been the common denominator (sub state nationalism,
immigration, and European integration are important issues in nationwide party
competition.
Example: immigration.. it aroused since late 1990's conservative have exploited
popular concerns by adopting authoritarian positions on illegal immigration, and new
labor has responded with tough measures and popular speeches.
Example: the euro issue
Conservative in the campaign oI 2001 they raised the slogan oI "keep the
pound" they were supported by elderly people and those without university degree
Labor they avoid any electoral threat by those increasing saliency (important)
issues so they promised to hold reIerendums on the single currency and EU
Constitutional Treaty
Euro-sceptic Iringe parties (those who support the euro bs kano parties mohamsha)
they won seats in recent local European elections.
3- Plaid cymru& Scottish national party (SNP)
The Scottish and welsh party systems appear relatively stable. The lib-lab coalition
was the most likely outcome oI the Scottish parliament elections where both agreed
on socio-economic issues and shared stance.
The new system called .???
Multiparty system: but the election results achieved by the third party are not an
equal Iooting with the 2 major parties, so multi-party system classiIication is
inappropriate.


Two& half partysystem: It is also problematic when it comes to the balance oI
the Iorces on the legislative and executive arenas.
With the exception oI lib-lab pact 1976-1977, the main 2 parties have been able to
govern alone without the need oI third party support.
Germany could be called two and halI party-system but not Britain
Those small parties needed in coalition government and no coalition government
existed in Britain except Ior 2010.
3 Dominant party system: or pre-dominant party system, this was Iirst applied to
the period 1979-1992 when conservatives dominated the legislative and monopolized
executive power. But the conservative predominance was built on Iragile Ioundations.
Then Irom 1992-1997 the abolition oI conservative party and 1992 highlighted a new
bias towards labor party because oI the increase in taxes, heightened personal
economic security and the new labor emerged as a series rival moving towards the
centre-right Irom 1997 to 2010 characterized by labor dominance.
There were 4 phases in the erosion oI 2 party system:

st
phase (: the support Ior 2 main parties Iell, and that Ior liberals and
national parties increased.

nd
phase (: the conservative dominance over the legislative branch and
monopolizing the executive power.
3
rd
phase (: underlying the Iragility oI conservative
a- new bias towards labor
b- co-operation between labor and liberal democrats leaders that hinted a coalitions
government iI 1997 Iail to produce clear majority.
4
th
phase (: this phase characterized by new labor dominance
* those phases taken as a conIirmation that Britain has a dominant party system.






The signs oI Iragmentation:
* the clearest indicators oI the Iragmentation oI the two-party system since 1970 are
the decline in the popular vote and parliamentary seats won by labor and
conservatives, and the corresponding increase in the vote and parliamentary presence
oI other parties.
The SNP and Plaid Cymru are established as a serious players in their respective
nations.
How to measure Iragmentation:
1- EIIective Number oI Elective Parties (ENEP): it's calculated on the basis oI vote
shares in general elections.
1/ summation square oI the vote share Ior each party
2- EIIective Number oI Parliamentary Parties (ENPP): it's calculated on the basis oI
seat share in the parliament.
1/ summation square oI the seat share Ior each party.
GOOD LUCK
Magdolin Mounir