Ways in which citizens can influence government decision-making, including pressure groups

Question 1

What is a petition?

Answer 1

Petitions are a way to ask the Parliament to do something.

Question 2

Who can submit a petition?

Answer 2

Any person or organisation can submit a petition: you do not have to be a certain age or live in Scotland.

Question 3

Can MSPs submit a petition?

Answer 3

MSPs cannot submit a petition but they can support them.

Question 4

What is the name of the dedicated Committee who consider petitions to the Scottish Parliament?

Answer 4

The Public Petitions Committee

Question 5

What makes a petition successful?

Answer 5

It isn’t controversial.
It is in-line with current government policy.
It is supported by expert opinion.​

Question 6

In what way can petitions influencing government decision-making?

Answer 6

They can raise awareness of an issue and deliver positive change to the way things work in Scotland.

Question 7

What did the petition PE1393 ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation’ lead to?

Answer 7

A national action plan

Question 8

What did the petition PE 1496: ‘Bedroom Tax Mitigation’ lead to?

Answer 8

Lifting the cap of payments from the Scottish Government to offset the ‘bedroom tax’

Question 9

What did the petition PE1285: ‘Free Calls to NHS 24 for Mobile Phones’ lead to?

Answer 9

The Scottish Government introducing a new 111 number

Question 10

What is arguably the most significant petition submitted to the Scottish Parliament?

Answer 10

A petition organised by pupils from Firrhill High School, in 2002, that led ultimately to the ban on smoking in public places.

Question 11

What percentage of petitions are discarded because they are invalid or do not have enough signatures to be considered?

Answer 11

50%

Question 12

In what way are petitions limited in influencing goevernment decision-making?

Answer 12

Most petitions do not lead to changes in legislation. MSPs might express opinions during debates but there is no compulsion to change laws.​

Question 13

Give an example that shows that having a large number of signatures does not guarantee success.

Answer 13

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.”​

Question 14

Who can Scottish citizens vote for?

Answer 14

MPs in UK elections
MSPs in Scottish Parliament elections
Councillors in local council elections.​

Question 15

How can voting influencing government decision-making?

Answer 15

Citizens choose their representatives and can vote out representatives/parties that they do not want. ​

Question 16

What were the most recent elections in Scotland?

Answer 16

The UK General election in 2019
The Scottish Parliamentary election in 2021
The local council elections in 2022

Question 17

In what way is voters’ power restricted in UK elections?

Answer 17

The FPTP (First Past the Post) voting system means that many votes are wasted as there is only one winner per constituency.

Question 18

Give an example that shows that many votes are wasted in UK elections.

Answer 18

In 2019, the Liberal Democrats got 11.6% of the vote but only got 1.7% of the seats.​

Question 19

What is the impact of voters’ power being restricted in UK elections?

Answer 19

Elections continue to be dominated by the bigger parties. ​

Question 20

What voting system does the Scottish Parliament use?

Answer 20

The Scottish Parliament uses AMS (Additional Member System) to election members.

Question 21

What is the Additional Member System?

Answer 21

This is a hybrid voting system which leads to a more proportional result with the views of more people being reflected in Parliament.​

Question 22

Give an example that shows that the Scottish OParliament creates a more proportional result.

Answer 22

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

Question 23

How many years have the SNP formed the Government in Scotland?

Answer 23

16 years

Question 24

Who can stand as a candidate in elections?

Answer 24

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.​

Question 25

In order to encourage only serious candidates to stand, how much is required as a deposit when submitting the nomination papers?

Answer 25

£500

Question 26

What percentage of the total votes cast do you need to receive to get your deposit returned?

Answer 26

5%

Question 27

In what way does standing as a candidate influence government decision-making?

Answer 27

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.​

Question 28

What societal groups are overrepresented in the Scottish and/or UK Parliaments?

Answer 28

White people Males Privately educated Wealthy

Question 29

Following the 2019 UK General election, what percentage of MPs in the House of Commons went to a private school?

Answer 29

29%

Question 30

What percentage of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament identify as disabled? Compare this to the general population.

Answer 30

In the Scottish Parliament, there are currently only six MSPs who openly identify as disabled despite making up roughly 22% of the population.​

Question 31

In what way is standing as a candidate limited in influencing government decision-making?

Answer 31

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.​

Question 32

What party might someone from a more affluent background who is critical of high public spending and high taxes join?

Answer 32

The Conservative Party

Question 33

What party might someone whose main concern is the environment join?

Answer 33

The Green Party

Question 34

How can members of parties influencing deicison-making?

Answer 34

By voting on party policies and for party leaders.

Question 35

Give an example of a ex-party leader who received substantial support from party members.

Answer 35

Jeremy Corbyn received very high levels of support from ordinary Labour party members despite not being very popular with Labour MPs in 2015.

Question 36

Who did SNP members vote as the new party leader after Nicola Sturgeon stepped down?

Answer 36

Humza Yousaf

Question 37

In what way do citizens have power when they join a political party?

Answer 37

They can have a massive internal influence. This internal party influence will affect how each political party acts in parliament.​

Question 38

What did the Conservative Party seen a major split over?

Answer 38

EU membership and Brexit

Question 39

Why did the SNP lose members?

Answer 39

The party changed its stance on NATO membership.

Question 40

Membership of which two parties rocketed following the independence referendum?

Answer 40

The SNP The Scottish Green Party

Question 41

What two campaigns in 2016 relied heavily on ordinary citizens?

Answer 41

The Leave and Remain campaigns

Question 42

Give one of the reasons why the Brexit referendum ended in an extremely close result.

Answer 42

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.​

Question 43

How can ordindary citizens contact representatives?

Answer 43

Through letters or emails, phone-calls and surgeries

Question 44

Where does Kaukab Stewart hold her regular surgeries?

Answer 44

The Partick Annexe, Woodlands Workplace or Townhead Village Hall

Question 45

In what way can contacting representatives influence government decision-making?

Answer 45

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.​

Question 46

In what way is contacting represenatives limited in influencing government decision-making?

Answer 46

MSPs do not always listen to the views of constituents which means that perhaps this form of participation is less influential. ​

Question 47

What did John Mason (MSP for Glasgpw Shettleston) vote against without consulting constituents?

Answer 47

The legalisation of gay marriage

Question 48

What could be a consequence of an MSP not listening to constituents?

Answer 48

It is likely that they would be voted out at the next election. ​