Democracy Flashcards
Devolved powers
P One devolved power is education
E The Scottish Parliament created the Curriculum for excellence which outlines what knowledge and skills pupils should develop.
E- For example, in 2018 scotland became the first country in the world to have LGBT+ inclusive education become a compulsory part of the curriculum
P - One devolved power is health
E - The Scottish Parliament makes decisions regarding health laws and health care as seen throughout the Covid pandemic.
E - In addition, scotland has free prescriptions whereas england doesn’t
P The Scottish Parliament also control law and order
E The Scottish Parliament has control over the court system and punishments available in Scotland
E For example, Scotland has a verdict of “not proven” while england doesn’t. In addition scotland’s use of community sentences have been increasing while in england they have been decreasing
Reserved powers
P One reserved power is defence
E Westminster determines how much money is spent on defence and what measures are most appropriate to ensure the UK is safe
E- for example the uk parliament voted in favour of remaining trident the UK nuclear weapons system
P Another reserved power is foreign policy
E The UK government determines our relationship with other countries and groups – who we are allies with and who we are at war with.
E- for example in 2022 it was the UK parliament that decided what sanctions to take against russia
P The UK Government also have control over economic and monetary policy
E The UK control the UK’s currency and interest rates
E- whether scotland would be able to keep the pound after independence was a big issue during the independence referendum
Powers/Roles of the first minister
P- one power of the first minister is to nominate ministers to sit on the scottish cabinet
E- cabinet ministers are responsible for different policy areas eg- education or health and meet at least once a week
E- for example Nicola Sturgeon appointed john swinney as covid recovery
P- The first minister chairs the scottish cabinet and is responsible for creating and directing scottish government policy
E- this means that it is the first minister who decides what the Scottish parliament will discuss each session as well as what is discussed within cabinet. These meetings are held in towns and cities throughout scotland
E- for example Nicola Sturgeon plans to ban the sale or petrol and diesel cars in scotland from 2032
P- the first minister is responsible for representing and promoting scotland
E- the first minister will travel to represent scotland abroad and meet world leaders
E- for example scotland have consul offices around the world including in the US and China. Nicola sturgeon visited china in april 2018 to promote trade
How AMS works
P One feature of AMS is the Constituency MSP vote
E Under this part of AMS, voters use the First Past the Post System to elect one constituency MSP for their area.
E 73 MSPs are elected in this way. This part of AMS is not proportionate in its results
P Another feature of AMS is the Regional MSP vote
E Under this part of AMS, voters use the Party List system to elect 7 MSPs for their region.
E There are 8 regions, meaning 56 MSPs are elected in this way. This aspect of AMS is more proportionate with the share of votes a party gets more closely reflecting the number of seats they win
Advantages of AMS
P Election results using AMS tend to be more proportionate than first past the post.
E This means that the people that are elected represent a higher % of the population through the regional vote.
E At the same time, there remains a clear link between the voter and constituency MSP who they choose by name
P One advantage of AMS is that smaller parties have a better chance of gaining seats
E Even if a party has no chance of winning a seat under the FPTP aspect, it can win party list seats. This may encourage supporters of smaller parties to vote.
E For example there are currently 7 Green Party MSPs.
P Election results using AMS provide better representation
E Under FPTP, the system is dominated by the two largest parties – Conservative and Labour. However, under AMS more parties tend to gain representation
E Constituents end up with a choice of 8 MSP’s from different parties and with different expertise and backgrounds to approach with an issue.
Disadvantages of AMS(3)
P One disadvantage of AMS is that it is more likely to lead to minority or coalition governments.
E This means that parties often have to compromise on their manifesto promises
E Bills and budgets may be harder to pass which can lead to little progress
P In the second vote, voters do not know who the candidates are
E As the party list aspect is used, some would argue that too much power is given to the party in choosing candidates. Often people like to know WHO they are voting for – personality and personal qualities are important in politics.
E The party may exercise power over the candidates as their party has been put in power not the candidates.
P AMS could lead to confusion.
E The Scottish Parliament has constituency and regional MSPs. This may confuse people who may be unsure whom to contact if a problem arises.
E Voters are also unsure what they are doing with their two votes.
Impact of AMS
P One impact that AMS has is that smaller parties have a better chance of gaining seats
E Even if a party has no chance of winning a seat under the FPTP aspect, it can win party list seats. This may encourage supporters of smaller parties to vote.
E For example there are currently 7 Green Party MSPs.
P One impact that AMS has is that election results using AMS tend to be more proportionate than first past the post.
E This means that the people that are elected represent a higher % of the population through the regional vote.
E At the same time, there remains a clear link between the voter and constituency MSP who they choose by name.
P One impact that AMS has is that it is more likely to lead to minority or coalition governments.
E This means that parties often have to compromise on their manifesto promises
E Bills and budgets may be harder to pass which can lead to little progress
Pressure Group Methods / Effectiveness
P- protesting can also be an effective method used by pressure groups
E- this often involves people marching gathering in large crowds and making their feelings known. Sometimes groups can break the law when they do this but it can be effective as the media attention it attracts can also put on the government to act
E-n for example after the extinction rebellion group organised protests to shut down cities and for students to walk out of class, the scottish government declared a climate emergency in 2019 and changed some of its policies
P- lobbying is another method used by pressure grouos thta can be effective
E- this usually involves meeting direction with decision makers like MSP’s to try and persuade them to support the groups cause. It can be effective as it can happen in person and then be shown in the media so MSP’s who want to look good to votes have to think carefully before they ignore people lobbying them
E- bfor example the TIE campaign won campaign of the year for their successful efforts to lobby MSP’s into supporting scotland to have the first LGBT+ inclusive education system
P- letter writing can be an effective method used by pressure groups
E- this involves getting supporters and the public to write to the government or companies to try and get their support. IT can be effective as it shows someone like an MSP how much people support the issue and they might not want to lose votes
E_ for xample surfers against sewage pressure group organised a letter writing campaign in 2018 about a bottle deposit scheme which the scottish government announced it would support and plans to introduce this in 2023
why do people join pressure groups
P- some poeple might join a pressure hroup because they support the aims of the group
E_ pressure groups can often cause important change and so people join a group that is focused on the issues that are really important to that person
E- for ecampel people who want to clean beaches might join surfers against sewage
P- SOme people might join a specific group because they known that they are effective
E- many pressure groups have been successful in persuading the government to change its mind so someone might join a larger group with proven success rather than set up their own
E_ for example people would look at extincion rebellion and join them because they have been successful to some extent
P- SOme people might join because they are expressing their political right
E- A key feature of a democracy is the right to join pressure groups and protest so people might join groups because they are free too and express their freedom of speech
E- for example people may join in with CND As a way of expressing their voice and opinion
