Ways in which citizens can influence government decision-making, including pressure groups Flashcards
What is a petition?
Petitions are a way to ask the Parliament to do something.
Who can submit a petition?
Any person or organisation can submit a petition: you do not have to be a certain age or live in Scotland.
Can MSPs submit a petition?
MSPs cannot submit a petition but they can support them.
What is the name of the dedicated Committee who consider petitions to the Scottish Parliament?
The Public Petitions Committee
What makes a petition successful?
It isn’t controversial.
It is in-line with current government policy.
It is supported by expert opinion.
In what way can petitions influencing government decision-making?
They can raise awareness of an issue and deliver positive change to the way things work in Scotland.
What did the petition PE1393 ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation’ lead to?
A national action plan
What did the petition PE 1496: ‘Bedroom Tax Mitigation’ lead to?
Lifting the cap of payments from the Scottish Government to offset the ‘bedroom tax’
What did the petition PE1285: ‘Free Calls to NHS 24 for Mobile Phones’ lead to?
The Scottish Government introducing a new 111 number
What is arguably the most significant petition submitted to the Scottish Parliament?
A petition organised by pupils from Firrhill High School, in 2002, that led ultimately to the ban on smoking in public places.
What percentage of petitions are discarded because they are invalid or do not have enough signatures to be considered?
50%
In what way are petitions limited in influencing goevernment decision-making?
Most petitions do not lead to changes in legislation. MSPs might express opinions during debates but there is no compulsion to change laws.
Give an example that shows that having a large number of signatures does not guarantee success.
The petition to ‘Revoke Article 50 and remain in the EU’ (UK Parliament website) attracted over 6 million signatures and, whilst it was debated in the Commons on 1 April 2019, UK Governments’ response was: “This Government will not revoke Article 50. We will honour the result of the 2016 referendum and work with Parliament to deliver a deal that ensures we leave the European Union.”
Who can Scottish citizens vote for?
MPs in UK elections
MSPs in Scottish Parliament elections
Councillors in local council elections.
How can voting influencing government decision-making?
Citizens choose their representatives and can vote out representatives/parties that they do not want.
What were the most recent elections in Scotland?
The UK General election in 2019
The Scottish Parliamentary election in 2021
The local council elections in 2022
In what way is voters’ power restricted in UK elections?
The FPTP (First Past the Post) voting system means that many votes are wasted as there is only one winner per constituency.
Give an example that shows that many votes are wasted in UK elections.
In 2019, the Liberal Democrats got 11.6% of the vote but only got 1.7% of the seats.
What is the impact of voters’ power being restricted in UK elections?
Elections continue to be dominated by the bigger parties.
What voting system does the Scottish Parliament use?
The Scottish Parliament uses AMS (Additional Member System) to election members.
What is the Additional Member System?
This is a hybrid voting system which leads to a more proportional result with the views of more people being reflected in Parliament.
Give an example that shows that the Scottish OParliament creates a more proportional result.
There are 7 Green MSPs in the Scottish Parliament just now and the Scottish Conservatives won many seats through the regional voting system, including 2 in the Glasgow region – a former Labour heartland
How many years have the SNP formed the Government in Scotland?
16 years
Who can stand as a candidate in elections?
Citizens from any background have the right to stand as a candidate for a variety of positions - as long as they meet age and citizenship requirements. People wishing to stand as an MP must be over 18 years of age, be a British citizen or citizen of a Commonwealth country or the Republic of Ireland for example.
In order to encourage only serious candidates to stand, how much is required as a deposit when submitting the nomination papers?
£500
What percentage of the total votes cast do you need to receive to get your deposit returned?
5%
In what way does standing as a candidate influence government decision-making?
The fact that citizens can stand as candidates and become representatives shows that citizens can indeed have an impact on decision-making. Once elected as representatives, individuals have a direct impact upon decisions which affect the daily lives of others.
What societal groups are overrepresented in the Scottish and/or UK Parliaments?
White people
Males
Privately educated
Wealthy
Following the 2019 UK General election, what percentage of MPs in the House of Commons went to a private school?
29%
What percentage of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament identify as disabled? Compare this to the general population.
In the Scottish Parliament, there are currently only six MSPs who openly identify as disabled despite making up roughly 22% of the population.
In what way is standing as a candidate limited in influencing government decision-making?
Not all citizens have an equal chance at being elected to an official position, which shows that in many ways the average British citizen is unable to affect decision-making in this manner.
What party might someone from a more affluent background who is critical of high public spending and high taxes join?
The Conservative Party
What party might someone whose main concern is the environment join?
The Green Party
How can members of parties influencing deicison-making?
By voting on party policies and for party leaders.
Give an example of a ex-party leader who received substantial support from party members.
Jeremy Corbyn received very high levels of support from ordinary Labour party members despite not being very popular with Labour MPs in 2015.
Who did SNP members vote as the new party leader after Nicola Sturgeon stepped down?
Humza Yousaf
In what way do citizens have power when they join a political party?
They can have a massive internal influence. This internal party influence will affect how each political party acts in parliament.
What did the Conservative Party seen a major split over?
EU membership and Brexit
Why did the SNP lose members?
The party changed its stance on NATO membership.
Membership of which two parties rocketed following the independence referendum?
The SNP
The Scottish Green Party
What two campaigns in 2016 relied heavily on ordinary citizens?
The Leave and Remain campaigns
Give one of the reasons why the Brexit referendum ended in an extremely close result.
This was in part due to the efforts of campaigners which shows that citizens can have an influence on decision-making and can convince other people to change their minds on political issues.
How can ordindary citizens contact representatives?
Through letters or emails, phone-calls and surgeries
Where does Kaukab Stewart hold her regular surgeries?
The Partick Annexe, Woodlands Workplace or Townhead Village Hall
In what way can contacting representatives influence government decision-making?
Contacting representatives can lead to them asking questions in Parliament or personally addressing issues in constituencies/regions.
This means citizens views are taken into account and action can be taken on them.
In what way is contacting represenatives limited in influencing government decision-making?
MSPs do not always listen to the views of constituents which means that perhaps this form of participation is less influential.
What did John Mason (MSP for Glasgpw Shettleston) vote against without consulting constituents?
The legalisation of gay marriage
What could be a consequence of an MSP not listening to constituents?
It is likely that they would be voted out at the next election.
