Why do people living in different areas vote in different ways? Why does this change over time? How do people talk about politics with friends and neighbours, and with what effect? Does the geography of well-being influence the geography of party support? Do parties try to talk to all voters at election time, or are they interested only in the views of a small number of voters living in a small number of seats? Is electoral participation in decline, and how does the geography of the vote affect this? How can a party win a majority of seats in Parliament without a majority of votes in the...

The concept of citizenship is currently the focus of discussion by the media, politicians and academics, because of a generally perceived growth in public disaffection and apathy. Presenting the first comprehensive study of British citizenship, this book is comprised of surveys of political participation and voluntary activities, as well as the beliefs and values which support them. The authors provide a sophisticated discussion of the concept of citizenship, and the consequences of a lack of civic engagement in a modern democracy.

The concept of citizenship is currently the focus of discussion by the media, politicians and academics, because of a generally perceived growth in public disaffection and apathy. Presenting the first comprehensive study of British citizenship, this book is comprised of surveys of political participation and voluntary activities, as well as the beliefs and values which support them. The authors provide a sophisticated discussion of the concept of citizenship, and the consequences of a lack of civic engagement in a modern democracy.

This volume features key political issues for 1990s Britain: the reform of the Labour party; the use of opinion polls; the impact of the media; European integration; Scotland and regional trends; and the bases of party support.

Scotland has a parliament for the first time in almost 300 years, and this book is an account of how this came about. The authors trace the origins and history of the demand for home rule in Scotland, focusing particularly on developments following the failure of the first referendum on the issue in 1979, which culminated in a second referendum in September 1997.
This major political event attracted national and international interest, and its decisive result was a milestone in Scottish history. This work presents an analysis of the referendum campaign at both national and local levels,...

The British electoral system treats parties disproportionately and differentially. This original study of the fourteen general elections held between 1950 and 1997 shows that the amount of bias in those election results increased substantially over the period, benefiting Labour at the expense of the Conservatives. Labour's advantage peaked at the 1997 general election when, even assuming there had been an equal share of the votes for the two parties, it would have won 82 more seats than its opponents. This situation came about because of different aspects of two well-known electoral abuses -...

In "Money and Electoral Politics," Ron Johnston and Charles Pattie draw on the latest researchincluding much unpublished materialto explore the financial differences between the United Kingdom s three main political parties in the four years leading up to the 2010 General Election. They look at how much local party branches raised and at the profound influence financing had on candidate performance. They show that fundraising at local levels often fell significantly short, suggesting a major problem with state of grassroots organizingthe capacity to effectively engage voters is confined to a...

In "Money and Electoral Politics," Ron Johnston and Charles Pattie draw on the latest researchincluding much unpublished materialto explore the financial differences between the United Kingdom s three main political parties in the four years leading up to the 2010 General Election. They look at how much local party branches raised and at the profound influence financing had on candidate performance. They show that fundraising at local levels often fell significantly short, suggesting a major problem with state of grassroots organizingthe capacity to effectively engage voters is confined to a...