WORD BANK - Scottish Parliament

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$Cabaan $Ross$, An Cadha BÃ n - Scottish Parliament$

Number of Votes Standard Grade Modern Studies Living in a Democracy Section 6 Democracy - this means “rule by the people”. The people should have a say in what happens and what is decided. How do people participate? How do they have their say and influence what is decided? There are many ways; some of them include voting, campaigning, joining political parties and becoming involved in pressure groups. One of the most important ways people can participate is by voting. They do this usually at election time when the whole country is given the opportunity to choose who they want to represent them and become their MSPs. Elections to the Scottish Parliament have taken place every four years. Sometimes it is necessary to hold a by-election – this is an election in a constituency where a seat becomes vacant. For example, in the March 2006 of the Scottish Parliament the seat for the constituency of Moray became vacant when the MSP Margaret Ewing died. A by-election was held in which the voters of Moray chose Richard Lochhead of the SNP. Result of Moray By-election April 2006 14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 Conservative Labour Lib Dem SNP NHS First Party 1
Campaigning can involve many different methods to persuade MSPs to support a cause. People can become involved in demonstrations, sending letters, emails, petitions, organising visits to MSPs surgeries, or organising media campaigns. Everybody in Scotland has the right to campaign, to seek to influence others and decision-makers. During the three sessions of Parliament (1999 - 2011), 1389 petitions were submitted to the Parliament‟s Public Petitions Committee. Petitions are often used in campaigns to show the level of support for a particular point of view. They usually contain a statement about the aim of the campaign and the campaigners seek to get as much support as possible by asking people to sign their petition. Each petition the Parliament receives must be looked at and the petitioner must be informed about what happens to their petition i.e. if it is within the powers of the Parliament to make a decision on, if a law already exists, or if a new law should be introduced. Who petitions the Parliament? Anyone can petition the Parliament. A petition can be submitted by one person, a group of people or an organised pressure group. A petition can be submitted on paper, or through the e-petitioning system. In the first 7 years of the Parliament (1999 – 2006) 53% of the petitions were organised by individuals, pressure groups sent 15% and community groups sent 18% (figures taken from The Assessment of the Scottish Parliament's Public Petitions System 1999 – 2006 by Dr. Christopher J. Carman, University of Glasgow) 2
Page 1 and 2: Standard Grade Modern Studies Livin
Page 3 and 4: The Scottish Labour Party In 1999,
Page 5 and 6: Activities Knowledge and Understand
Page 9 and 10: Voting took place between 7 am and
Page 11 and 12: Key Points During the election cam
Page 13 and 14: The Additional Member System used b
Page 15 and 16: AMS Advantages AMS Disadvantages Us
Page 21 and 22: (2) The work they do in their Const
Page 23 and 24: How the MSPs represent Joseph The M
Page 25: Activities Enquiry Skills 1. Every
Page 31 and 32: Key Points Democracy means
Page 33 and 34: Our MSPs also have rights and respo

WORD BANK - Scottish Parliament

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