Yesterday, The BBC posted an interesting feature on its website which used word clouds to examine visually how the words used in political manifestos have changed over the years.
In 1945 the most popularly used word was 'must', nowadays it is 'people'.
If you are looking for the full text of older manifestos- an excellent starting point is the Political Resources website maintained by Richard Kimber which has the text of most examples from 1945 onwards
You might also like to know theat the LSE Library and archives hold printed copies. For details of their election ephemera collection and how you can help by collecting 2010 materials see the website.
For scholarly discussion of elections. See the Elections, Public Opinion and Parties Specialist Group of the Political Studies Association. It includes details of the British Election Study 2010 and contents pages from its journal. You might also like to look at the conference proceedings section of the same PSA website where you can read and download the full text of many papers from PSA annual conferences since 1994. They include many examples relating to elections and the changing nature of political communications.
Friday, 23 April 2010
Thursday, 22 April 2010
Did the debates promote interest in the elections?
According to recent figures from the UK Electoral Commission. Late voter registration was very high last weekend.
Yesterday BBC radio 4 discussed this. Today reporter Sanchia Berg stated that after the first leaders' debate 120,000 voter registration forms were downloaded from the Electoral Commission website. Jennie Watson, chair of the Electoral Commission also contributed with her perspective. Their comments can be heard online from the website.
Also interesting is recent report from Hitwise which discussed how the internet plays a key role in driving voter registration. It noted an increase in searching following the election announcement
Another factor may have been the use of social media advertising by the Electoral Commission which placed adverts on Facebook last weekend.
For examples of its advertising materials. Take a look at the official Electoral Commission website Other organisations which also seek to encourage new voters are Rock the Vote and Operation Black Vote
For historic data on levels of registered and unregistered voters in the UK a good starting point is the research section of the Electoral Commission website. For instance see this recent report on the completeness and accuracy of the electoral registers in the UK.
Another good place is the Office of National Statistics. Again search for elections. Examples of data include: Post-war turnout for general elections, 1945-2001: Social Trends 33 and Parliamentary electors on the 2000 and 2001 electoral registers
International Idea also has an excellent website which contains statistics and reports on voter turnout worldwide. You can use it to compare the position of the UK with other countries.
Yesterday BBC radio 4 discussed this. Today reporter Sanchia Berg stated that after the first leaders' debate 120,000 voter registration forms were downloaded from the Electoral Commission website. Jennie Watson, chair of the Electoral Commission also contributed with her perspective. Their comments can be heard online from the website.
Also interesting is recent report from Hitwise which discussed how the internet plays a key role in driving voter registration. It noted an increase in searching following the election announcement
Another factor may have been the use of social media advertising by the Electoral Commission which placed adverts on Facebook last weekend.
For examples of its advertising materials. Take a look at the official Electoral Commission website Other organisations which also seek to encourage new voters are Rock the Vote and Operation Black Vote
For historic data on levels of registered and unregistered voters in the UK a good starting point is the research section of the Electoral Commission website. For instance see this recent report on the completeness and accuracy of the electoral registers in the UK.
Another good place is the Office of National Statistics. Again search for elections. Examples of data include: Post-war turnout for general elections, 1945-2001: Social Trends 33 and Parliamentary electors on the 2000 and 2001 electoral registers
International Idea also has an excellent website which contains statistics and reports on voter turnout worldwide. You can use it to compare the position of the UK with other countries.
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Twitter archives do they show the rising popularity of Nick Clegg?
The Library of Congress Twitter Archive. last week the Library announced that it will be maintaining an archive of Tweets. However, this will not be open on the Internet. Access is likely to be based in the main reading rooms with a 6 month embargo on access. While the Twitter archive will not be posted online, the Library envisions posting selected content around topics or themes.
In the meantime you might like to know that the Google replay service offers the opportunity to search twitter from February 2010. Further details about this is on the official Google Blog To try it out, go to the normal Google screen run your search, then expand the web results click “Show options” on the search results page, then select “Updates.” The first page will show you the familiar latest and greatest short-form updates from a comprehensive set of sources, but now there’s a new chart at the top. In that chart, you can select the year, month or day, or click any point to view the tweets from that specific time period. One possible use at the moment is to look at the increase of tweets relating to Nick Clegg since February!
Of course he is not the only topic in the elections - Last week Prospect magazine ran an article stating that the whole election campaign should be cancelled except on twitter and the Internet and the Labour Party provoked a storm by using Young blogger and twitter fan Ellie Gellard otherwise known as the Stilettoed socialist to help launch its manifesto.
For the latest twitter feeds see a selection of the best (as chosen by the telegraph newspaper ) also useful is the Edelman site which has created a TweetLevel tracking and measuring the influence, trust engagement and popularity of the top 150 politicians, bloggers, candidates and journalists, ranked by their influence, on Twitter during the campaign.
In the meantime you might like to know that the Google replay service offers the opportunity to search twitter from February 2010. Further details about this is on the official Google Blog To try it out, go to the normal Google screen run your search, then expand the web results click “Show options” on the search results page, then select “Updates.” The first page will show you the familiar latest and greatest short-form updates from a comprehensive set of sources, but now there’s a new chart at the top. In that chart, you can select the year, month or day, or click any point to view the tweets from that specific time period. One possible use at the moment is to look at the increase of tweets relating to Nick Clegg since February!
Of course he is not the only topic in the elections - Last week Prospect magazine ran an article stating that the whole election campaign should be cancelled except on twitter and the Internet and the Labour Party provoked a storm by using Young blogger and twitter fan Ellie Gellard otherwise known as the Stilettoed socialist to help launch its manifesto.
For the latest twitter feeds see a selection of the best (as chosen by the telegraph newspaper ) also useful is the Edelman site which has created a TweetLevel tracking and measuring the influence, trust engagement and popularity of the top 150 politicians, bloggers, candidates and journalists, ranked by their influence, on Twitter during the campaign.
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Swingometers!
A well loved feature of past British BBC election night coverage has been the swingometer - which was used to calculate how many seats the various parties would get. The BBC archive has just released a fascinating collection of clips. These cover the period of the 1960s to Peter Snow in 1997
If you are more interetsed in calculating the results for this year's election, try the current online BBC swingometer
The Times newspaper also has an election seat interactive map.
More sophisticated is the Electoral Calculus website which uses scientific calculation to predict outcomes for individual constituencies and the nation as a whole.
The UK polling report is also useful for pulling together in one place recent polls from the main agencies, giving a snapshot of the current mood.
Finally the ever reliable Richard Kimbers Political science resources website has an index of 2010 websites. There is a section for political polls and betting where you will find links to the main online betting agencies should you want to lose (or win!) some money!
If you are more interetsed in calculating the results for this year's election, try the current online BBC swingometer
The Times newspaper also has an election seat interactive map.
More sophisticated is the Electoral Calculus website which uses scientific calculation to predict outcomes for individual constituencies and the nation as a whole.
The UK polling report is also useful for pulling together in one place recent polls from the main agencies, giving a snapshot of the current mood.
Finally the ever reliable Richard Kimbers Political science resources website has an index of 2010 websites. There is a section for political polls and betting where you will find links to the main online betting agencies should you want to lose (or win!) some money!
Monday, 19 April 2010
The Nick Clegg effect
According to recent polls the debates have increased public support for Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg.
Here are some useful sites for finding out more about who he is and what he stands for!
His Official web site has a biography, recent calendars of events and press releases. You can also read the party manifesto
The Guardian Aristotle (which is a useful site for getting factual information on all UK MPs) has a profile and voting history.
Consumer watchdog They work for you - covers very similar ground with voting record, lists of appearance and expenses statistics
Liberator magazine has some headlines
For discussion and debate from a Liberal Democrat party prespective some sites to try are: Lib Dem Blogs which aggregates discussion from party supporters
Very similarly Libdem Voice also contains recent postings from key blogs
Next left blog from the Fabian Society
regularly contains related materials on the left, socialism and Liberalism.
The Beveridge Group exists to promote discussion among Liberal Democrats of how policies in the Social Liberal tradition of Lloyd George, Keynes, Beveridge and their radical Liberal roots, can best be adapted to the needs and challenges of the 21st Century. Its website also has discussion
Centreforum is a major Liberal think tank. Its website currently contains discussion of what the Libdems would do in the event of a hung parliament.
download this report on whether they could work with the conservatives in a hung parliament. For instance you can download this pamphlet
Finally you can browse a catalogue of websites related to the UK Lib Dems on Intute
Here are some useful sites for finding out more about who he is and what he stands for!
His Official web site has a biography, recent calendars of events and press releases. You can also read the party manifesto
The Guardian Aristotle (which is a useful site for getting factual information on all UK MPs) has a profile and voting history.
Consumer watchdog They work for you - covers very similar ground with voting record, lists of appearance and expenses statistics
Liberator magazine has some headlines
For discussion and debate from a Liberal Democrat party prespective some sites to try are: Lib Dem Blogs which aggregates discussion from party supporters
Very similarly Libdem Voice also contains recent postings from key blogs
Next left blog from the Fabian Society
regularly contains related materials on the left, socialism and Liberalism.
The Beveridge Group exists to promote discussion among Liberal Democrats of how policies in the Social Liberal tradition of Lloyd George, Keynes, Beveridge and their radical Liberal roots, can best be adapted to the needs and challenges of the 21st Century. Its website also has discussion
Centreforum is a major Liberal think tank. Its website currently contains discussion of what the Libdems would do in the event of a hung parliament.
download this report on whether they could work with the conservatives in a hung parliament. For instance you can download this pamphlet
Finally you can browse a catalogue of websites related to the UK Lib Dems on Intute
Friday, 16 April 2010
What's your verdict on the election debate?
All the main British newspapers have headlines and commentary discussing the debates today. I therefore thought it would be useful to offer a series of links to their election special pages. In addition to news most of theese also contain polls, cartoons, blogs and background information on the British electoral system.
Guardian 2010
Telegraph
Financial Times
Independent
Times
Daily Mirror
The Sun - readers poll on the debate
Mail
BBC
Channel 4
ITV includes footage and blogs.
Sky politics news
finally why not try the epolitix.com online news service. This has an excelent collection of online news and interviews.
You can also catch up with the latest reaction from the polls by chacking the UK polling report site - which aggregates the main ones.
Guardian 2010
Telegraph
Financial Times
Independent
Times
Daily Mirror
The Sun - readers poll on the debate
BBC
Channel 4
ITV includes footage and blogs.
Sky politics news
finally why not try the epolitix.com online news service. This has an excelent collection of online news and interviews.
You can also catch up with the latest reaction from the polls by chacking the UK polling report site - which aggregates the main ones.
Thursday, 15 April 2010
The first televised leaders debate is today
This evening ITV will host the first ever televised debate of British party leaders during an election campaign.
For some background on the decision to hold this histroic event. There are a number of useful resources online.
The House of Commons Library published a research note in March 2010 which summarises recent arguments. The appendix B sets out the rules for the debate.
The Hansard Society has published a number of papers examining why debates were vetoes in the past and setting out proposals
Also available on the BBC iplayer until 19th April is a documentary called How to win the TV debate which examines the possible strategies the leaders might use.
Of course all the major news websites and politics commentators will be reviewing the performance of those involved. However an interesting blog which offers expert analysis from debating experts is Election debates
There is also an interesting YouTube/ Facebook site the Digital Debates where members of the public are being invited to participate in a digital debate with the 3 leaders. Questions are being submitted and just before the elections answers will be posted. It gives some insight into what Internet users think is important.
Finally for some background on the history and importance of debates in US political history there is the MBC History of televised debates website. This has a selection of transcripts, video clips and associated essays and teacher's notes from the 1950s until the present day.
For some background on the decision to hold this histroic event. There are a number of useful resources online.
The House of Commons Library published a research note in March 2010 which summarises recent arguments. The appendix B sets out the rules for the debate.
The Hansard Society has published a number of papers examining why debates were vetoes in the past and setting out proposals
Also available on the BBC iplayer until 19th April is a documentary called How to win the TV debate which examines the possible strategies the leaders might use.
Of course all the major news websites and politics commentators will be reviewing the performance of those involved. However an interesting blog which offers expert analysis from debating experts is Election debates
There is also an interesting YouTube/ Facebook site the Digital Debates where members of the public are being invited to participate in a digital debate with the 3 leaders. Questions are being submitted and just before the elections answers will be posted. It gives some insight into what Internet users think is important.
Finally for some background on the history and importance of debates in US political history there is the MBC History of televised debates website. This has a selection of transcripts, video clips and associated essays and teacher's notes from the 1950s until the present day.
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