Impact of Arrival of Television on Electioneering In England Essay

INTRODUCTION The invention of television marked he beginning of a new epoch. The age of information technology made information available at the push of a button. Facts and distortion of facts are the tools of the entertainment industry. Exaggeration is the premise on which the advertizing agency works. It is confluence of the audio visual impact which is one of the most powerful influences that is experienced by the individual. It left no human endeavor untouched .The fate of democracy is determined by the elections. Television was utilized for campaigning of the candidates participating in the election. It brought about a complete revamping of the election campaign. Local issues were sidelined and an emphasis on the national campaign was     the dominant feature of the election process.[1]Mass media had completely mesmerized both the masses and the persons responsible for planning and execution of the election campaign. The recent proliferation of the media channels has led to a depletion of issues that can be aired on these channels .therefore there has been a shift from national to local politics. The impact of the television is not just limited to what is going to be at the forefront but it has led to complete overhaul of the process. The campaigns are more articulate and well planned .The concept of negative publicity has been inducted like it was done never before. The elections are loosing personal touch as there is more emphasis on the how to air the campaign. Consequently the expenditure on the elections is rising partly because of infalation and partly because the campaigns are conducted on grand scale. British Law permits each party to air its programme, policies and agendas on the national channels across England for 20 minutes without paying any tariff for putting it on air. Each party is given a maximum of five repeat telecast. HISTORY OF POLITICAL BROADCAST Political broadcasting started in Britain in 1924 on radio with a20 minute allocation time for each party. it was started on television in 1951.   It was an unpaid time slot of 15 minutes that was allocated to each party. The political broadcasts are regulated by the 1990 Broadcasting Act and the Political Parties, Elections and Referendum Act 2000.The initial directives of the act forbade that the political advertisement should not be purely political in nature. In 2001 general election the   three major political parties were given five chances to broadcast their political campaign where as the minor political parties were given one chance if they were contesting one sixth of the total seats. 5 and 10 minutes of political advertisements were replaced by 2’40†, 3’40† or 4’40†³and a stricture is placed on them so that they should not violate decency and good taste. All the political electoral broadcast by various party are simultaneously aired .These are either preceded or followed by   previews and reviews by the major news paper daily and there fore the messages are a kind of reinforced. Currently there is ongoing debate on whether the system of political broadcast should be completely scraped or it should be revised with a provision of paid commercials. Since time immemorial it has been stated that effective governance is related to whether the voters have made an informed choice. It is privileged class who will try different means to gather information about the party and candidates standing in the election. The masses either do not makes a conscious effort to gather information or they rely on effortless means to gain information about the political parties. What the media is representing can differ. On the one hand it can be balanced objective on the other hand it can be preferential[2] It has been observed that commercial broadcasting system can have ulterior motives as they are there to maximize their benefits. The national broadcasting system is more conducive to producing objective information   Ã‚  about the political parties[3]. Political advertising in England is more party oriented where as in America the emphasis is on the candidate .Lot of attention is being paid to the effect of use of media in the election .It is very difficult to conclusively prove that what results it is going to produce .England is a very old democracy and all the parties have their particular image .Media cannot altogether alter the image of the party   .It can highlight the achievement of the party and it can make the manifesto more lucrative. This premise is in accordance with the earliest studies of the impact of television on the electoral outcomes by Blumler and McQuail.[4] The party campaign through the media is expected to effect the voter turn out. It can bring to the forefront various campaign issues. It can create an enthusiasm for gathering more information about the party programmes.[5]These early studies reflected that voting for political parties were a matter of class and the election campaign served very little purpose. [6]The conservative and the Labour party were dividing the voters on the basis of who did manual labour and who didn’t work with their hands i.e the managers and the employers and the middle class The voters who changed their loyalties from one party to another were primarily for a short term. It has been observed that this faction was to swing back its support to he party which it originally adhered to.   It can be said that these floating voters can be influenced by the televised transmission of the electoral campaign. This can be contended because the labour part lost three elections in a row in 1959 although the class that does manual labour constitute major chunk of the electorate. The material prosperity entailed a spread of the middle class values and hence the conservatives won the election. The messages that are aired during the political campaigns in election are not the only information available to the electorate. The long term memory of the people might be short. That doesn’t mean that the events political debates     press conferences, by- elections etc preceding the election campaign have no consequence. The election campaign through the media is of two kinds. One in which the focus is on the image building or the achievement of the party .The other kind deals with the character assassination of the opponent. If the attack broadcasting is exaggerated and is not substantiated then it can create sympathy for the opponent. The conservative party campaign nick named ‘Demon eye’ of 1997 was counter productive It created an image of Labour as leftwing radicals. The electorate had experience a moderate labour party government under the leadership of Tony Blair. A caricature of Mr. Bust and Mr. Boom was used to depict the economic condition of England .The facts that Britain had experienced a spurt in the economy in 1980 under the leadership of Thatcher. This kind of media campaign has to be used with great caution as it is either counterproductive or it does not have any effect on the target audience. If there are fractions within the party then it can bolster unity among the contending fractions. The persuasive propaganda is more useful and almost all the parties realize that it is the best way to campaign .It pays attention to detailing the ideology of the party. It is oriented on the fact that the achievement of the party is highlighted. Moreover it is presented in manner that it appears more entertaining so as to keep the audience hooked on to it. It can be proved that the parties are more interested in this positive kind of advertisement by looking at the percentage of the campaign allocated to the political advertisement. Negative references were a small and similar proportion of the total literature of all three parties: 8.7 per cent Conservative, 10.4 Labour, 9.8 per cent Liberal Democrat. The televised broadcast of the political party programmes is useful tools because the minor political parties get a chance to make themselves felt. This is true for most of the countries who have democracy and who have televised political advertisement.[7] Even .The liberal democrats were able to make themselves felt through their advocacy strategy. In 1951 the minor parties had around 10% to 3% of the vote share. This vote share increased in the 1997 and almost one fourth of the total share of the vote. There are many reasons for the increase in the vote share of the relatively new and unknown political parties like social class. Education of the voter as it determines whether it is an informed choice or not. Media especially the print media is specially tilted in favor of conservative parties IT was in the I970s that the researches were conducted and it reflected that a change had occurred in the political environment of Britain .The voters were not holding to the rigid class bias of the political parties due to the influence of the television. The other factor that is responsible for this change was the economic affluence in England as that was responsible for mitigating the gap between the rich and the poor.[8]Other researches argue that this doesn’t mean that class politics has changed rather it can be seen as both the parties are going out of favor. Heath et al argue â€Å"analysts have mistaken changes in behavior by voters for changes in their motivation without asking first whether or not the political stimulus they have received is still the same or not. They suggest, for example, that variations in the strength of the class alignment may well reflect changes in the distance between the parties on class-based issues†.[9] The voters are not taking their decisions in vacuum there are certain political and social issues that are motivating the voters to vote for apolitical parties. The short term shift in the voters preference is based on the perception of the competence of the parties,. The parties in power can effectively utilize the print as well as the television in advertizing its achievement .There have been fears that   the hegemony of the media was responsible for the conservatives winning the election as they have the hegemony over the press. It has been time and again proved television is not the sole deciding factor in determining the outcome of the election. The 1980s saw a shift from the national to regional politics .There was a variation in the voting patterns from one region to another. If television has been the main sway in the elections then the entire country should have shown a similar pattern. Local campaign did make a difference The surveys conducted by the Labour party showed that Its percentage of votes was directly related to number of people working for the party [10] Local campaign play an important role in persuading the voters to vote for a particular party. It is very difficult to find out what was the ultimate reason for voting as the preferences of an individual are shaped in the recesses of an individuals mind. Television came second in the list of what influenced the voters of the survey conducted by MORI .The regional television can be utilized to create amore local and specific advertisement for the electorate. This area has yet to be explored by the political party..   The labour party topped the list of frequency of the reference of the constituencies and it made almost 28.7 per cent of sentences referring to local provision. The Conservatives made 16.5 per cent and made the Liberal Democrats 10.2 per cent references to the local issues. This means the elections are by and large fought on national issues which are effectively transmitted through the television. The lab our party has thrice lost elections till 1997. This reflects that though they made more references to the local electoral constituencies they were unable to convert the voters in their favour. CONCLUSION It is seen that the advent of television had completely changed the way in which we look at the different issues .Things which are of relatively lesser importance can be presented in an innovative method .The election process in England has its own peculiarities.   Television didn’t bring about a complete transformation of the election process of Britain. England is one of the oldest proponents of the institution of democracy. The two major parties the lobour and conservatives have their peculiar images .Television cannot completely alter the public perception. The older generation is more difficult to mould as its ideas are set .The televised broadcasting of the party manifesto can be aimed at the youth which is more likely to change its preferences. A perceptible shift is seen in the support base of the two major political parties the Labour party was supported by the people doing manual labour and the conservatives were supported by the middle class. The class distinction was thought to be the basis of the voting pattern. Now this distinction is becoming less and less important as media and economic affluence has reduced the gap between the rich and poor.   The influence of television has backfired on the two major parties .The minor political parties have increased their vote percentage. The major beneficiary is the Liberal Democratic Party. Although it has been the pristine premise that the informed electorate   can lead to the formation of more effective and responsible government .It can be said with certainty that the voters of the present age are more informed but there is difference between having knowledge and judicious use of knowledge..The other aspect of this election scenario of England is that there is no alternative to the present parties on the national level .Even if the voter is aware of the shortcomings of the present parties, he has no choice. The voters have to choose the lesser evil. REFERENCES Blumler, Jay G. and Denis Mc Quail. 1968. Television in Politics: Its Uses and Influence. London: Faber &Faber.n.p Bonham, J. (1954), The Middle Class Vote (London: Faber)pp 56-62 Butler, D. and Stokes, D (1974) Political Change in Britain(2nd. edition) pp54-78(London: Macmillan) Evans, G. Heath, A., and Payne, C. (1999), ‘Class: Labour as a Catch-All Party?’ in Evans, G. and Norris, P. (eds.), Critical Elections: British Parties and Voters in Long-Term Perspective n.p   (London: Sage) Kaid, Lynda Lee and John C. Tedesco. 1993. ‘A comparison of political television advertising fromthe 1992 British and American campaigns.’ Informatologia 25(1-2): 1-12 Kavanagh,   The British General Election of 2001. Basingstoke n.p: Palgrave Macmillan News on Party Images in the 1997 British General Election.’ British Elections and Parties Norris, 2001. Ed. Britain Votes 2001.n.p   Oxford: Oxford University Press. Norris et al .1999; Norris and Sanders 2000   pp 110-120 Sanders, David and Pippa Norris. 1998. ‘Does Negative News Matter? The Effects of Television Semetko , holi .A 1996 The Media In Comparing democracies edited by Lawerence   Le Duc,Richard Niemaand Pippa Norris London:Sage   pp254-279 Seyd, P. & P. Whiteley (2002) New Labour’s Grass Roots: The Transformation of Labour Party Membership, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.pp10-38 Zaller John2003†Anew standerd of the news quality: Burglar alarm Monitorial Citizens†Political communication20 109-130 [1] (Kavanagh, (1970). The British General Election of 2001. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan News on Party Images in the 1997 British General Election.’ British Elections and Parties n,p [2] Zaller John2003†Anew standerd of the news quality: Burglar alarm Monitorial Citizens†Political communication20 pp109-130 [3] Semetko , holi .A 1996 The Media In Comparing democracies edited by Lawerence   Le Duc,Richard Niemaand Pippa Norris London:Sage   pp254-279 [4] Blumler, Jay G. and Denis McQuail. 1968. Television in Politics: Its Uses and Influence. London: Faber &Faber.n.p [5] Norris et al .1999; Norris and Sanders 2000   pp 110-120 [6] Bonham, J. (1954), The Middle Class Vote (London: Faber)pp 56-62 [7] Kaid, Lynda Lee and John C. Tedesco. 1993. ‘A comparison of political television advertising from the 1992 British and American campaigns.’ Informatologia 25(1-2): pp1-12 [8] Butler, D. and Stokes, D (1974) Political Change in Britain(2nd. edition) pp 54-78(London: Macmillan) [9] Evans, G. Heath, A., and Payne, C. (1999), ‘Class: Labour as a Catch-All Party?n.p Norris, P. (eds.), Critical Elections: British Parties and Voters in Long-Term Perspective (London: Sage)n.p [10] Seyd, P. & P. Whiteley (2002) New Labour’s Grass Roots: The Transformation of Labour Party Membership, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan pp.10 – 38