Class and Partisan Alignment

Voting Behaviour

In this course, Professor Peter Dorey (Cardiff University) explores various aspects of voting behaviour. In the first module, we think about voting behaviour in terms of class and partisan alignment and dealignment. After that, in the second module, we think about the importance of individual political issues (e.g. Brexit) and of the figure of the party leader him or herself influencing how people vote. In the third module, we think about the importance of the election campaign itself, before turning in the fourth module to consider the extent to which voting behaviour can be explained by age and gender. In the fifth module, we consider the extent to which the media can be said to influence voting behaviour, before turning in the sixth and final module to think about the issue of electoral turnout, how it has changed over the past fifty years, and some of the reasons for this change.

Class and Partisan Alignment

In this module, we think about voting behaviour in terms of class and partisan alignment and dealignment, focusing in particular: (i) the correlation between class and voting behaviour in the 1950s and 60s; (ii) the decoupling of class and voting behaviour from 1970 onwards, and the reasons for this change; (iii) the level of party loyalty – i.e. always voting for the same party – in the 1950s and 60s; (iv) the decline in party loyalty from 1970 onwards, and the reasons for this change; and (v) the rise (and fall) of parties beyond the ‘big two’ – e.g. the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party, UKIP, etc. – and the reasons for these changes in the political landscape.