Democracy In Scotland Flashcards
1
Q
Explain in detail,ways that the AMS fairly represent the people in Scotland
A
- smaller parties
- this means under the AMS smaller parties have a greater chance of gaining seats in parliament there for more voices are heard representing more views
- for example 2021 eight Green MSP and four Liberal Democrats MSP were elected into the Scottish parliament and in the past Scottish socialist MSP has gained representation these parties would have much less chance of being heard in Scotland
- more representative
- this means there is more choice for constituents about who to approach with issues you can normally go to an MSP who is in the party you support
- for example someone living in Holm can approach their constituency MSP for Orkney LibDem MSP Liam MacArthur
2
Q
Describe in detail the devolved powers of the Scottish parliament
A
- healthcare
- this means making sure that people of Scotland are healthy and have access to treatment and hospitals
- for example the Scottish parliament Health and sports committee looked at the organisation law which means you now have to opt out of donating their organs when they die
- education
- this is about making sure the education system in Scotland is running well with good quality school buildings and enough teachers
- for example the Scottish parliament education community took evidence about the cancellation of the 2020-21 exams
3
Q
Describe in detail the roles of the first Minister
A
- lead the Scottish government
- this means that final decisions on what each of the departments of the government do such as healthcare in devolved areas is made by the first Minister
- for example Nicola Sturgeon would have approved the decisions to make bus travel free to everyone under the age of 22 in Scotland with the Scottish greens
- represent Scotland
- this means they are responsible to speak and act on behalf of Scotland in areas that are devolved as head of the Scottish government
- for example Nicola Sturgeon represented Scotland in the UK crisis meetings during the Covid pandemic
4
Q
Describe in detail the role of an MSP in their constituency
A
- promoting democracy in local schools
- this means that MSPs will often visit schools in their local areas to talk to young people about issues that are important to them as well as helping students learn about the Scottish parliament
- for example regional MSP Rhoda Grant and constituency MSP for Orkney Liam MacArthur both recorded videos for modern studies pupils at Kirkham grammar school about their work in the Scottish parliament
- attending important events and promote local businesses
- this means MSP will be represented for events happening in their local area this let MS peas speak to the locals and get to know more about what’s important to the community this often happens on a weekend
- For example Liam MacArthur MSP attended Orkney police station to welcome the new chief inspector
5
Q
Explain in detail the disadvantages of a AMS as a voting system (8 mark)
A
- create collisions are minority governments which is a negative impact as it can give smaller parties too much power
- this means smaller parties can become a kingmaker as they can sway the votes in the SP as the larger parties does not have a majority
- for example the SNP have a minority government with 64 seats, they often rely on support of the green to help them pass bills making them too powerful despite their smaller amount of MSP in parliament
- confusing as people may not understand why they have two ballots
- difficult to understand and is a complex formula and gives you 8 MSPs which can be difficult to understand and to know who your MSP is
- for example having to vote twice in an election can lead to valets being filled out incorrectly, 100,000 ballot papers were wasted in 2017
- creates conflict between constituency MSP and regional MSP
- many people go to Liam McArthur and not many people know who there Highlands and Islands regional MSPs are
- they have been said there a “waste of space”
6
Q
  describe in detail two ways in which an MSP can represent their constituents in the Scottish parliament
A
- Asking questions at first ministers question time
- this means that once a week on a Thursday MS peas have the opportunity to hold the first minister to account by asking her questions on behalf of their constituents
- for example Orkney MSP Liam MacArthur in June 2021 ask why his constituents where an allowed to attend their children’s sports day when main file there where around 3000 people attending fan zones to watch the euro football tournament
-putting on issues that affect their constituency
-this means that MSP can vote in the Parliament to reflect the wishes of their constituents say vote at the end of the day about any issues that have been brought up
-for example Liam MacArthur recently voted against extending the coronavirus bill in parliament

7
Q
Explain in detail why political parties use the media during election campaigns
A
- good way of connecting with the public
- this means parties who use social media usually have greater success in connecting with young voters as they usually use social media daily
- for example political parties use social media platforms such as Twitter Facebook and Snapchat to get their messages across to voters
- get their message across to older voters
- this means newspapers are often right by older voters and some political parties will try to get their policies published in papers
- sorry example the Sun newspaper in Scotland has supported the SNP
8
Q
Describe in detail to powers of the first minister in the Scottish government
A
- recommending new judges
- The first minister will listen to the law professions and then recommend to the Queen new judges who should be appointed to the bench
- recent appointments to the High Court in Glasgow and Edinburgh have been made after Nicola Sturgeon recommended them to Queen Elizabeth
- appoint government ministers and Cabinet secretaries
- these are people who run different departments of government based on the Scottish parliament powers e.g. economic developments
- Nicola Sturgeon insures her cabinet has a 50:50 ratio on gender, with John Swinney made deputy FM and Shona Robinson has the health and sport secretary
9
Q
Explain in detail why the first minister is very powerful
A
- she is the leader of the Scottish government
- as first Minister she makes the final decision on each department of the government
- Nicola Sturgeon agreed and approved the Scottish governments rules on the COVID-19 pandemic
- she can appoint and remove Cabinet members
- as first Minister she has control over who is in charge of each government department which means she can punish those on loyal and reward those loyal to her
- John Swinney has been appointed deputy first Minister and Cabinet Secretary for a Covid recovery as he is very loyal to Nicola Sturgeon
10
Q
Describe in detail the roles of the MSP in the constituency 
A
- promoting democracy in local schools
- MSPs will often visit schools in their local area to talk about issues that are important to them as well as helping students learn about the Scottish parliament
- regional MSP Roger Grant and constituency MSP for Orkney Liam McArthur both recorded videos for modern studies pupils at Kirkwall grammar school about their work in the Scottish parliament
- attending important event and promote local businesses
- MSPs Will be present for events happening in the local area this let MSP speak to their locals and get to know more about what’s important to the community
- Liam MacArthur MSP I change it are can you police station to welcome the new chief inspector
11
Q
Explain in detail the advantages of additional member system (8 mark)
A
-strong link between Parliament and the people
- in the first vote people will select a representative for that area this means people will know who their local representative is easily
- Liam McArthur is the local MSP thoroughly and is very well known to his constituents
-voters get more choice
-The AMS works by having voters select a local representative for the constituency and then choosing a party for the region that they live in 
-many people might vote SNP in the constituency vote but Green in the regional as both Support independence
- fairer representation
- Because the way the votes are counted and seats given out, the numbers of seats they get is close to the amount of votes they got this makes the outcome fairer
- In 2021 the Conservative party got around 23% of the votes and around 24% of seats which seems fair
12
Q
Explain why many people choose not to vote/participate in politics/democratic society
A
- they feel excluded from politics
- many young people, women, ethnic minorities, disabled people and LGBT people feel that they are underrepresented by the people in power this can make them think “why bother?” “ politics isn’t for me”
- there has only ever been one woman in charge of Scotland democracy and two women in charge of the U.K.’s democracy
- don’t think their participation will matter
- individuals on their own might not feel that their voice is loud enough and so few that a single protest or a single vote won’t make a difference
- A few people have been protesting and voting against the nuclear weapons at faslane in Scotland for decades but they are still there
13
Q
Explain why people choose to vote/participate in politics/democratic societies
A
- they know how important it is
- The Scottish parliament is very powerful and has a lot of responsibility for making Scotland a good place to live many people get involved in politics to make sure the Scottish parliament does a good job
- Scottish parliament is responsible for devolved matters like health and education
- they know it can make a difference/influence politics
- people in Scotland have joined parties, pressure groups, student elections and voted because they can see the difference all these things have to the people of Scotland
- in Scotland University is free and so are prescriptions which is not the case for people in England
14
Q
Explain in detail the purpose and function/roles of committees in the Scottish parliament
A
- closely examine bills and make recommendations to Parliament
- One of the essential rolls of the committees are to examine very closely the bills proposed regardless of who started them they gather evidence from experts and also the public
- Health and sports committee has looked into the new organ donation law that will mean Scots will have to opt out of donating their organs when they die
- examine and scrutinise the work of the Scottish government
- committees will examine the work of the government regularly
- The Scottish parliament has set up a committee into how well the Scottish government merger of Scotland’s policies force is going 
15
Q
Explain in detail to effective methods which political parties usenduring an election campaign
A
- window posters
- effective way because the posters will be brightly coloured and eye-catching they are a great way of advertising the party and the candidates
- local people can be encouraged to put up posters in the window
-social media
-really good way of connecting with the public especially young ones because so many people use it daily
-Do you MacArthur use Twitter to get his point across to Lib Dems

