Britain Votes 2005

by Norris, Pippa; Wlezien, Christopher

• ISBN13: 9780198569404
• ISBN10: 0198569408
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-08
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Britain Votes 2005 provides a balanced, comprehensive and topical overview of the campaign leading up to the 2005 British General Election and an analysis of the results presented in a straightforward, clear and lively style for students, colleagues and practitioners. This is the fourth volumein the Oxford series which started in the election of 1992.Part I provides insights into the strategies and tactics adopted by the major parties; news coverage on the television, in newspapers, and on the internet; and the dynamics of the opinion polls leading up to polling day.Part II analyses the outcome including the results in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; race and gender issues; economic voting; the working of the electoral system, and the outcome for the new Parliament. Produced by a well-known team of experts on British elections and voting behaviour, thebook is written in a vivid and accessible style.The book will be essential reading for all students, scholars, and practitioners of British elections and voting behaviour, party politics, public opinion, political behaviour and political sociology.

Author Biography

Christopher Wlezien is Professor of Political Science at Temple University. He is co-founder of the ESRC-funded Oxford Spring School in Quantitative Methods for Social Research and a research associate in the Centre for the Study of Democratic Government. Wlezien came to Oxford from the University of Houston, where he was a professor of political science and founding director of the Institute for the Study of Political Economy. He has held visiting positions at Columbia University, the Juan March Institute, and McGill University. He received his PhD from the University of Iowa in 1989.
Pippa Norris is a political scientist comparing elections and public opinion, political communications, and gender politics. She has published more than thirty books and her work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. She has served as an expert consultant for many official bodies, including the UN, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, International IDEA, the NDI, the NED, and the UK Electoral Commission. She has held many visiting research appointments, including at Columbia University, the University of California - Berkeley, the University of Oslo, the University of Cape Town, Otago University, and the Australian National Univerity. Pippa Norris is McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics teaching at the John F Kennedy School of Government and the Department of Government at Harvard University, and prior to that she taught at Edinburgh University.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Third Blair Victory: How and Why?	1	(27)
Pippa Norris
Christopher Wlezien
THE CAMPAIGN
The Opinion Polls: The Election They Got (Almost) Right	28	(15)
Ivor Crewe
The Press, Television, and the Internet	43	(13)
John Bartle
The Labour Campaign	56	(13)
Dominic Wring
The Conservative Campaign	69	(18)
Anthony Seldon
Peter Snowdon
The Liberal Democrat Campaign	87	(14)
Andrew Russell
The Continuing Advance of the Minor Parties	101	(19)
Paul Webb
THE RESULTS
Turnout: Electors Stay Home---Again	120	(10)
John Curtice
The Election Results in the UK Regions	130	(16)
Ron Johnston
Charles Pattie
David Rossiter
The Issue Agenda and Voting in 2005	146	(16)
Paul Whiteley
Marianne C. Stewart
David Sanders
Harold D. Clarke
The Impact of Party Leaders: How Blair Lost Labour Votes	162	(19)
Geoffrey Evans
Robert Andersen
Winning Women's Votes? The Incremental Track to Equality	181	(17)
Rosie Campbell
Joni Lovenduski
The Impact of UK Electoral Systems	198	(16)
Patrick Dunleavy
Helen Margetts
Conclusion: Whether the Campaign Mattered and How	214	(19)
Christopher Wlezien
Pippa Norris
Index	233