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ScotlandPolitics

Political Parties and Elections

3 dot points across 3 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do parties manage election campaigns, and how far do campaigns actually decide results?

Political campaign management: the strategies parties use to win elections, including the air war and ground war, the role of the media and social media, targeting and the use of data, spin and the permanent campaign, and how far campaigns influence the result.
An SQA Higher Politics answer on political campaign management, covering the strategies parties use to win elections, the air war and ground war, the role of the media and social media, targeting and data, spin and the permanent campaign, and how far campaigns decide the result.
12 min answer →

What are political parties for, and how do the main UK and Scottish parties differ in ideology and policy?

The role and functions of political parties, the ideology and key policies of the main parties (Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and SNP), and how internal party factions and the centre ground shape what parties stand for.
An SQA Higher Politics answer on political parties, covering their role and functions, the ideologies and key policies of the main UK and Scottish parties (Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and SNP), and how factions and the centre ground shape party policy.
12 min answer →

Why do people vote the way they do, and which theories best explain voting behaviour?

Theories of voting behaviour: long-term factors such as social class, partisanship, age, region and identity, short-term factors such as the economy, issues, leaders and the media, and the debate between sociological and rational-choice explanations.
An SQA Higher Politics answer on voting behaviour, covering the long-term factors that shape how people vote (class, partisanship, age, region, identity), the short-term factors (the economy, issues, leaders, the media), and the debate between sociological and rational-choice theories.
12 min answer →