Parties For The Public Good
Research conducted by Ipsos for the Young Foundation shows that the British public believe political parties have an important role to play in democracy. Half the public (49%) say that political parties in Britain enable the people to have a voice; and a similar number also disagree that Britain would be better off if political parties did not exist and all politicians were independent. At the same time, fewer than a quarter believe that parties are open and transparent, and the most popular approaches to making parties more appealing would be for them to involve people more in local decision making and for them to listen more to the public.
Research conducted by Ipsos for the Young Foundation shows that the British public believe political parties have an important role to play in democracy. Half the public (49%) say that political parties in Britain enable the people to have a voice; and a similar number also disagree that Britain would be better off if political parties did not exist and all politicians were independent. At the same time, fewer than a quarter believe that parties are open and transparent, and the most popular approaches to making parties more appealing would be for them to involve people more in local decision making and for them to listen more to the public.
More widely, the importance of political parties is evident through the fact that only 6% of the public say they are bad for a democratic system. Nine times as many people (45%) say they are good for a democratic system, with just over a third (36%) saying they make no difference. When asked to select the two or three organisations or groups that have the most impact on meeting the long-term needs of people in this country (from a list of eleven), political parties rank third, behind the Government and public services.
Download the report Parties For The Public Good from the Young Foundation website pdf, 423KB.
Topline Results
- Ipsos interviewed 973 adults aged 15+ across Great Britain.
- Interviews were conducted face-to-face between 31 August and 7 September 2006.
- Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.
- The base for all questions is 973 British adults.
- Where percentages do not sum to 100, this may be due to computer rounding, the exclusion of "don't know" categories, or multiple answers.
- Throughout the volume, an asterisk (*) denotes any value of less than half a per cent.
Q1 Which two or three of the following organisations or groups do you think have the most impact on meeting the long-term needs of people in this country?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Government | 50 |
| Public services (e.g. NHS) | 30 |
| Political Parties | 26 |
| Trade Unions | 21 |
| Local Councils | 19 |
| The media / newspapers | 15 |
| Charity organisations | 13 |
| Businesses and multi-national corporations | 10 |
| Religious institutions | 8 |
| Campaign Groups (e.g. Greenpeace, Amnesty) | 8 |
| Sporting organisations | 3 |
| Other | 0 |
| Don't know | 8 |
| None of these | 5 |
Q2 Which, if any, of the following do you think are the most effective ways for people to have an impact on decisions about how the country is run?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Vote at an election | 59 |
| Contacting ministers and MPs to present your views | 24 |
| Sign a petition | 18 |
| Take part in party meetings / conferences | 15 |
| Join a political party | 13 |
| Join an organisation with a social or political agenda, such as Amnesty, Countryside Alliance, or PETA | 13 |
| Participate in public events / protest marches e.g. Anti war marches etc | 13 |
| Write letters to newspapers | 11 |
| Donate money to a charity or campaigning group | 8 |
| Direct Action (e.g. boycotts and violent protest) | 7 |
| Donate money to a political party | 6 |
| Other | 2 |
| None of these | 5 |
| Don't know | 8 |
Q3 Do you believe that political parties are good for a democratic system, bad for a democratic system or make no difference?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Good for a democratic system | 45 |
| Make no difference | 36 |
| Bad for a democratic system | 6 |
| Don't know | 12 |
Q4 Please state whether you agree or disagree with each of the following statements:
| Strongly agree | Tend to agree | Neither / nor | Tend to disagree | Strongly disagree | Don't know | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Political parties in Britain are open and transparent | 6 | 16 | 18 | 25 | 37 | 8 |
| Political parties in Britain enable the people to have a voice | 15 | 34 | 17 | 18 | 11 | 5 |
| Political parties in Britain are a hindrance to democracy | 7 | 17 | 26 | 24 | 17 | 10 |
| Britain would be better off if political parties did not exist, and all politicians were independent | 8 | 17 | 20 | 24 | 24 | 8 |
Q5 Which two or three of the following changes to political parties would help to make political parties more appealing to you?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Involving people more in local decision making | 54 |
| Parties would listen more to the public | 48 |
| Taking the time to talk to people about their organisation and explaining their values | 26 |
| Drawing party candidates from a wider cross-section of society | 22 |
| Leading more campaigns around local issues | 20 |
| Allowing interested people to influence policy more | 16 |
| Acting more as social organisations | 9 |
| Working more with single-issue organisations | 5 |
| Making constituency offices more inviting and interesting places to visit | 4 |
| Making better use of the internet and information technology | 4 |
| Other | * |
| None of these | 4 |
| Don't know | 7 |
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