Voting Patterns: Race and Gender
Race, gender, and other minority groups play a key role in politics, significantly in Britain. Three specific chapters from Sex Lies and the Ballot Box: 50 things you need to know about the British Elections, shed light on the key roles of ethnic minority MPs, gender differences in voting, and ethnic group norms, which effectively illustrate the importance of these elements in political system in Britain.
Maria Sobolewska, author of the chapter titled “The British Obamas: Ethnic Minority MPs,” discusses the impact of the current ethnic representation in parliament on ethnic minority groups in Britain, cleverly comparing ethnic minority representation to Barack Obama, current President of the United States. Sobolewska begins by discussing the fact that there is under-representation of ethnic minorities in parliament, thus each year, the number of candidates of an ethnic minority increases (165). According to Sobolewska, “13 per cent of British residents belong to a visible ethnic minority group” (165), yet ethnic minority MPs represent only 4% of parliament (165).
This statistic is not surprising, considering 88% of the United Kingdom is of white ethnicity (Nugent). However, it is surprising that the proportions of each ethnicity are far off from what the …show more content…
According to Campbell, the average voter is a woman, even though men are just as likely to vote as women (187). Women appear less interested in politics than men, as they are more undecided closer to election day compared to men (187) and are less likely to pick a political attitude or opinion (188), but are still slightly more likely to turnout for election
Race, gender, and other minority groups play a key role in politics, significantly in Britain. Three specific chapters from Sex Lies and the Ballot Box: 50 things you need to know about the British Elections, shed light on the key roles of ethnic minority MPs, gender differences in voting, and ethnic group norms, which effectively illustrate the importance of these elements in political system in Britain.
Maria Sobolewska, author of the chapter titled “The British Obamas: Ethnic Minority MPs,” discusses the impact of the current ethnic representation in parliament on ethnic minority groups in Britain, cleverly comparing ethnic minority representation to Barack Obama, current President of the United States. Sobolewska begins by discussing the fact that there is under-representation of ethnic minorities in parliament, thus each year, the number of candidates of an ethnic minority increases (165). According to Sobolewska, “13 per cent of British residents belong to a visible ethnic minority group” (165), yet ethnic minority MPs represent only 4% of parliament (165).
This statistic is not surprising, considering 88% of the United Kingdom is of white ethnicity (Nugent). However, it is surprising that the proportions of each ethnicity are far off from what the …show more content…
According to Campbell, the average voter is a woman, even though men are just as likely to vote as women (187). Women appear less interested in politics than men, as they are more undecided closer to election day compared to men (187) and are less likely to pick a political attitude or opinion (188), but are still slightly more likely to turnout for election