Attainment Target F3.2

1. How do political campaigns, the media and pressure groups, influence public opinion?

2. What are the main policies of our political parties?

Karen's answers

1) Political parties launch their campaigns to persuade people to vote for them. They publish their manifestos, which are booklets telling the public what the party will do if they are voted into power. They try to persuade the voters that their key policies are better than all the other parties. To persuade the voters, they use banners, leaflets, speeches, slogans, pamphlets, posters, marches, bumper stickers, etc. They also go round people’s houses, explaining why their policies are the best; this is called canvassing. The party leaders will also go on television, being interviewed. All of these methods are part of political campaigns.

The media also influence public opinion. Television and radio are supposed to be unbiased. That means they are supposed to tell the truth and not make things up or not report things. They don’t tell the public who they should vote for. Newspapers are different. They will support one political party, and try to persuade their readers to vote for that party. They do this by the way they report on events and the way they describe people.

Pressure groups operate all the time, not just at election time. Pressure groups usually concentrate on one issue, and put pressure on the government to do something about that. They also try to influence the public to put pressure on the government. For example, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is opposed to nuclear weapons; they stage demonstrations at the submarine base at Faslane, to try to get it closed down.

It is difficult to say how much effect all of this has on public opinion. Parties, newspapers and pressure groups believe that if we don’t hear the point of view they are supporting, then we will be influenced by the others. Therefore each is afraid not to keep trying to persuade us. All that we the public can do is try to keep an open mind and try to make sure that we are as wellinformed as possible.

2) There are six political parties represented in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. They are:

Labour – The Labour Party was originally formed to push for reforms that would help working-class people, such as free education, a National Health Service, etc. In the 1990s they changed their name to New Labour, and became more pro-business.

Conservative – The Conservative Party believes in low taxes, efficient use of public money, and private enterprise.

The Scottish National Party – The SNP wants independence for Scotland.

The Liberal Democrats – The Liberal Democrats believe in proportional representation. They usually try to place themselves between Labour and the Conservatives.

The Scottish Socialist Party – The SSP believe in an independent socialist Scotland, with high public spending and high taxes on the well-off.

The Green Party – The Greens push for better care for the environment.