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Lesson Starter

Lesson Starter. Explain, in your own words the West Lothian question. THE ADDITIONAL MEMBER SYSTEM. Higher Modern Studies. What will I learn?. About the voting system used in the Scottish Parliament. Success Criteria. Identify the voting system used in the SP elections.

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Lesson Starter

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  1. Lesson Starter • Explain, in your own words the West Lothian question.

  2. THE ADDITIONAL MEMBER SYSTEM Higher Modern Studies

  3. What will I learn? About the voting system used in the Scottish Parliament.

  4. Success Criteria • Identify the voting system used in the SP elections. • Describe how the voting system works. • Identify the difference between different MSPs

  5. The Additional Member System • The voting system used for Scottish Parliament elections is the Additional Member System (AMS). • This is a form of Proportional Representation. The number of seats won by each party will be roughly equivalent to the number of votes it receives. • Elections are held every 4 years. • First election – 1999, second – 2003 and third – 2007 and fourth 2011.

  6. How it Works • There are 129 MSPs. • There are 2 different types of MSPs: ‘Constituency’ MSPs and ‘Regional List’ MSPs’. • 2 different ballot papers are used to elect the different types of MSPs.

  7. Constituency MSPs • There are 73 constituencies in Scotland. • Each constituency elects 1 MSP using FPTP. • A lilac (purple) colored ballot paper is used to elect constituency MSPs. • You put a ‘x’ beside the name of the candidate you want to vote for.

  8. Regional List MSPs • For these MSPs, Scotland is divided into 8 regions: Highland and Islands, NE Scotland, Mid Scotland and Fife, West of Scotland, Glasgow, Central, Lothians and South of Scotland.

  9. Regional List MSPs • There are 56 ‘List’ MSPs. • Each region has 7 ‘List’ MSPs. • A peach coloured ballot paper is used. • Party List system of PR is used. • You put a cross beside the name of a party you want to vote for.

  10. The Party List • Each party supplies a list of candidates. • Most favored candidates are at the top of the list. • 7 rounds of calculations take place using a formula:

  11. The Result • Each person in Scotland is represented by a total of 8 MSPs. 1 Constituency MSP + 7 Regional MSPs

  12. Example • In Cowdenbeath in 2011 SP election, Helen Eadie won more votes than her rivals. She therefore become the constituency MSP. • Under AMS, Cowdenbeath is part of the Mid Scotland and Fife region. • In order to compensate the parties who had a decent number of votes across the wider region, list seats are allocated according to the proportion of vote each party receives. • End result Helen Eadie is the constituency MSP and there are an additional 7 MSPs for the region.

  13. Example • If a constituent in Cowdenbeath has an issue in the area that needs the MSP’s attention they could got to Helen Eadie to do something. • In theory they could also approach a ‘list’ MSP, such as Murdo Fraser, a Conservative MSP for the Fife region.

  14. Glasgow Provan Constituency Paul Martin, Constituency MSP Scottish Labour It is claimed that AMS is unlikely to give one party complete power. Region: Glasgow

  15. Write a mini-conclusion for the following paragraph • The AMS is a fair system of electing MSPs. Discuss. • There are many arguments for and against the AMS system of electing MSPs. One positive of this system is due to proportionality. This type of electoral system produces a proportional result where the percentage of the vote a party gets is roughly equal to the percentage of seats the party gets in the SP. For example in the 2011 SP election, the SNP got 45% of the vote and gained 53% of the seats. In contrast, in the 2010 Westminster election, there was less proportionality with the Conservatives polling 36% of the vote but gained 47% of the seats. Also in the same election Labour polled 29% of the vote and gained 39% of the seats.

  16. System for Writing Paragraphs… • Introduce point • Make point • Backup with examples (at least 2) • Analysis – explain why what you have said answers the question (mini-conclusion)

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