What does the Political Parties and Elections section cover?

This section covers how parties compete for power and why people vote as they do. It examines the role and functions of political parties and the ideology and key policies of the main parties (candidates can study any party with representation in the Scottish or UK Parliament, such as the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP); the strategies of campaign management; and theoretical analyses of voting behaviour, including the long-term and short-term factors that shape the vote.

Which parties can be studied in Higher Politics?

Following an update to the course, candidates can choose from any political party with representation in the Scottish or UK Parliament. The major examples are the Conservative Party, the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party. For each party candidates should understand its ideological roots, its key policies, its internal factions, and how it positions itself relative to the centre ground.

What strategies do parties use in election campaigns?

Parties run an air war (the national media campaign of party broadcasts, advertising, leaders' debates and a controlled message) and a ground war (local canvassing, leafleting and get-out-the-vote work, focused on marginal seats). They use targeting and data to reach persuadable voters, social media to target messages cheaply and mobilise supporters, and spin and the permanent campaign to manage their image continuously between elections as well as during them.

What are the main theories of voting behaviour?

The sociological model explains voting through fixed social attachments such as social class and party loyalty, so voters are seen as anchored to a party. The rational-choice model explains voting as instrumental, with voters judging parties on issues, policies, the economy and self-interest. Class dealignment and partisan dealignment, the weakening of these fixed loyalties, have made voting more volatile and given short-term and rational-choice factors greater weight.

How is the Political Parties and Elections section examined?

It is assessed in the question paper through extended-response questions using command words such as describe, explain, analyse and evaluate. Higher-mark questions ask candidates to analyse a topic (for example the functions of parties or the rational-choice theory of voting) or to evaluate a claim (for example whether class is the most important factor in voting, or how far campaigns decide elections), rewarding a balanced argument with a sustained conclusion.

ScotlandPolitics

SQA Higher Politics Political Parties and Elections: a complete overview of parties, campaigns and voting behaviour

A deep-dive SQA Higher Politics guide to the Political Parties and Elections section. Covers the role and ideologies of the main UK and Scottish parties, the strategies of political campaign management, and the theories of voting behaviour, with the long-term and short-term factors that decide elections.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.815 min readHigherUpdated 2026-06-16

Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed

Jump to a section

What this section actually demands
Political parties and their ideologies
Political campaign management
Voting behaviour and theories
How this section is examined
Check your knowledge

What this section actually demands

Political Parties and Elections is about how parties compete for power and why voters choose as they do. The examiners want accurate knowledge of party ideology and policy, of campaign strategy, and of voting theory, plus the ability to analyse a theory or factor and to evaluate a contested claim with a balanced conclusion.

This guide walks through the three topics, then sets out how the section is examined. Each topic has a matching dot-point page with worked questions; this overview ties them together.

Political parties and their ideologies

A political party seeks to win power and form a government. Its functions are contesting elections, representing interests, developing policy, recruiting candidates and engaging citizens. The main parties have distinct roots: the Conservatives (conservatism and free markets), Labour (social democracy and public services), the Liberal Democrats (liberalism and reform), and the SNP (social-democratic policy plus independence). Factions and the pull of the centre ground shape what each party stands for over time.

Political campaign management

Campaigns combine the air war (national media, broadcasts, leaders' debates, a controlled message) and the ground war (canvassing and get-out-the-vote work in marginal seats). Parties use targeting and data, social media and spin in a permanent campaign. Campaigns can be decisive at the margins, but longer-term factors such as party loyalty and the economy often matter more.

Voting behaviour and theories

Voting is shaped by long-term factors (class, partisanship, age, region, identity) and short-term factors (the economy, issues, leaders, the media). The sociological model stresses fixed social attachments; the rational-choice model stresses instrumental calculation. Class and partisan dealignment have made voting more volatile, raising the weight of short-term and rational-choice factors.

How this section is examined

A typical SQA profile for Political Parties and Elections:

Describe and explain questions. Setting out party functions, a campaign technique, or a voting factor accurately.
Analyse questions. Developing the reasoning behind a topic, such as the functions of parties or the rational-choice theory of voting.
Evaluate questions. Weighing a contested claim, such as whether class is the most important factor or how far campaigns decide elections.

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall and explanation questions covering the section. Attempt them, then check against the solutions.

Name two functions of political parties. (2 marks)
State the ideological root of two of the main parties. (2 marks)
Explain the difference between the air war and the ground war. (4 marks)
Name two short-term factors in voting behaviour. (2 marks)
Explain the difference between the sociological and rational-choice models of voting. (4 marks)

Sources & how we know this

SQA Higher Politics Course Specification — SQA (2020)