Scottish Politics

Question 1

What are the powers of the scottish parliament?

Answer 1

Devolved powers

-Health
the NHS

-Education
SQA, Unis, schools

-Law and home affairs
police, criminal law, fire services

-Local government
32 local governments that need to provide cleansing, roads etc

Question 2

What are the range of elections held in Scotland/ UK

Answer 2

Council elections

Scottish parliament

House of commons

Question 3

Why should people vote in Local Council elections

Answer 3

Local Councillors can help to directly fix your community- keep a public library, get street lights fixed

You want someone to represent your views in your ward

Question 4

why should people vote in Scottish parliamentary elections?

Answer 4

So that you have someone you feel represents your views

So that the party elected has the same priorities as you

extremists ALWAYS vote

Vote isn’t wasted using AMS- smaller parties et more say

Question 5

Why should people vote in the House of Common elections?

Answer 5

So that they have someone who is going to represent the UK n the best possible way

So that the Prime Minister elected has the same interests as the voter

Calculated on a seat by seat basis

Question 6

Safe seat

Answer 6

a seat in parliament most likely to be kept with a large majority in an election ie. more than 5000

Question 7

Marginal Seat

Answer 7

A constituency held by a small majority ie. less than 3000

Question 8

what is a candidate

Answer 8

The people that you are able to vote for on a ballot paper

Question 9

Describe AMS

Answer 9

form of proportional representation

used to elect 129MSP’s into the scottish parliament

first vote- uses FPtP and has single member constituencies
second vote- List system and has multi member constituencies

Question 10

advantages of AMS

Answer 10

less wasted votes

accountability

Fairness

Boost minority representation

Question 11

disadvantages of AMS

Answer 11

confusion in votes

wasted votes

lack of clear accountability

encourages extremist parties

Question 12

describe STV

Answer 12

STV produces multi member constituencies

form of proportional representation,meaning it’s more fair

voters rank the candidates in order of preference, instead of casting a single vote for a single candidate

Question 13

advantages of STV

Answer 13

more fair

constituencies are bigger

proportional representation (not most proportional)

Question 14

disadvantages of STV

Answer 14

It can be complicated

May lead to tactical voting

More complicated to count votes

High chance of coalition

Question 15

Describe FPtP

Answer 15

Each voter has one vote

The voter marks the ballot paper with an X

Voters are registered to vote within the constituencies

The candidate with the votes roles wins the seat

Question 16

advantages of FPtP

Answer 16

Simplicity

Efficient

Accountability

Stability

Question 17

disadvantages of FPtP

Answer 17

Minority Dominance

Unfairness

Wasted Votes

Restriction of Choice

Regional Bias

Encouraging apathy

Question 18

What is a constituency

Answer 18

The name given to a geographical area which is served by a political representative

Question 19

What is a ward

Answer 19

A ward is the equivalent to a constituency- but to local councillors. So smaller areas such as Lochee, Dundee and The Ferry

Question 20

What is a single member constituency

Answer 20

A constituency that only elects one member into parliament because of the voting system used.

For example FPtP creates single member constituencies

Question 21

What is a multi member constituency

Answer 21

A constituency that elects several representatives because of the. outing system used.

For example The second Vote in AMS and STV create multimember constituencies