Suchergebnisse

After each election in the UK, The London Times generally publishes its GUIDE TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. The 1970 Vol, however, opens untraditionally with an account of the failure of the opinion polls. An analysis is made of the voting figures for the UK. It is shown how the published polls concluded the Labor victory. An attempt is made to show that sample size can in no way be conclusive for determining voting behavior. The pollsters offered 2 explanations (1) low turnout, & (2) a change of mind among the voters. The areas of error & the possible remedies for the pollsters are presented. These include (a) a consideration of the uncommitted voters, (b) a study of the deviant voters in 1966 election, & (c) more factual & less newsworthy analysis. 3 Tables. G. Satt.

British elites were asked to assess the value to the UK of.

An analysis of: (A) the lessons learned from pol'al surveys used in the UK, (B) effects of such knowledge on party propaganda (PR), & (C) effects on the quality of democratic pol. Re (A), it is stated that: (1) there is no simple & complete alignment of SC & pol'al faith; (2) each party can rely on the unwavering support of about 33.3% of the electorate; (3) the committed rank-&-file of both parties are in substantial agreement on the relative value of many SP ends; (4) the uncommitted electors tend to feel that neither party will be effective; & (5) the 2 parties differ sharply on a very limited number of issues. Re (B), it Is stated that: (1) the PR attack is concentrated on the 35% of the electorate which is uncommitted; (2) PR is fragmented in content, to reach diff 'targets'; (3) prefessionalization of local PR occurs, & local party workers increasingly insert pol'al meanings into their nonpol'al activities; (4) the PR battle must be fought on mundane issues - housing, Sch's, etc; (5) the propagandist personifies the party in the personality & appearance of the party leader; & (6) pol'al advertising must be sustained over long periods, & thus requires substantial funds. Re (C), it is stated that: (1) the waging of pol'al warfare has become very costly; (2) the sci'st & intellectual are encouraged to take pol seriously, since both parties, to impress the uncommitted, are anxious to give them a signif role in shaping party policy; (3) polls & advertising widen the popular definition of pol & increase the number of participants in everyday pol'al discussion; (4) personification of the party in the image of the leader makes loyalty to him the overriding pol'al virtue; & (5) while the rank-&-file appreciate the real diff's separating the 2 parties, the uncommitted electors are unaware of them; however, due to the new party programs, they are given a choice which elicits their increased participation in pol, thus enhancing the volume & variety of democratic choice. L. Gimenez Melo.

A description of the 2 main British pol'al parties between tl General Elections of 1955 & 1959 & a discussion of the reasons for diff's in their behavior. The Conservative Party, thanks to its heavy use of advertising agencies, the effective managerial structure of its machine, & its understanding of relevant academic res in pol'al sociol, was willing to commission opinion surveys & able to act on their findings. On th, other hand, the underlying ideological orientation of the Labor Party stood as a formidable barrier to the introduction of new intelligence. The occasional surveys carried out for Labor were barren, primarily because they were seen as a betrayal of the Party's ethos, but also because the headquarter's machine did not encompass any skills able to use the findings through modern MM. AA.

A report of the findings of a sample survey carried out in GB during 1960 to examine the relationships between 'objective' SC (determined by occup), self-assessed SC & pol'al loyalties. Manual workers & their adult dependents form 66 2/3% of the L electorate; 40% of these described themselves as Mc & 56% as Wc (4% undecided). While a majority of the first group supports the Conservative Party & a majority of the second group supports Labor, yet in each the minority is so large that we must think in terms of a fourfold division of the `objective' Sc. When asked to describe their pol'al values it is clear that manual workers who consider themselves Mc & vote Labor have something important in common with manual workers who describe themselves as We & vote Conservative: both have a non-class, `altruistic' approach to politics. Similarly manual workers who call themselves Mc & vote Conservative have much in common with manual workers who call themselves We & vote Labor: both give a class & self-interest account of their pol'al motives. A comparison between self-styled Mc & self-styled Wc showed one outstanding diff in their backgrounds: among the children of the former a much higher proportion were receiving or had received higher educ; diff's in income & ownership of durable consumer goods etc, were comparatively slight. AA.