Font Size: a A A

Study On Additional Member System Of The Scottish Parliament

Posted on:2007-02-02Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:Y ChenFull Text:PDF
GTID:2166360185453532Subject:Legal history
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
In May 1999, Scottish Parliament was founded. The additional member system (AMS) it adopted broke the tradition of single member plurality system (or first-past-the-post, FPTP) that had been maintained in Britain for hundreds of years, and it was the first time that AMS rooted and sprouted in British land. Through investigating the historical background and operating pattern of the Scottish Parliament's electoral system, this paper aims at discovering the impact and influence of this system on Scottish and British constitution.This paper consists of three parts: the introduction, main parts and results. The main parts are divided into three chapters.The introduction indicates the research value of AMS and the writing aims of this paper.The first chapter deals with the process of setting up the Scottish parliament and AMS through the aspect of history. The establishment of the Scottish Parliament was one of the chief subjects of the Labor Party government's constitutional reform. In the course of striving, Scottish parties, Scottish political organizations and nationalism organization have played the important roles in building the parliament. The new Scottish Parliament has the primary legislative power and other important powers, and its establishment aims at realizing Scottish self-government that they have already expected for a long time. The approach of AMS was full of difficulties, and the contend of the political parties and the struggle of Scottish made the Labor Party government to select the mixed electoral system at last.The second chapter discusses the operating pattern of AMS by three aspects of the boundaries, voting ways and election results. AMS is the combination of FPTP system and the proportional representation system (PR). It adopts dual electoral districts, which are constituencies and regions. Each elector needs to vote two times, and votes are transferred into seats according to a specific formula. Thus 129 members of Scottish Parliament(MSP)are elected, including 73 under FPTP and 56 under PR. In 1999 and 2003 elections, no party won the overwhelming support, so a coalition government between the Labor Party and the Liberal Democracy Party was founded to govern together.The third chapter proves the crucial influence of AMS on the Scottish legislation and British constitution by analyzing the effect of the parliament. This system makes the Scottish to deserve the statutes that embody their real will, promotes the democratic process, and supplies the way for the electoral reform of the House of Common.The results summarize the guidance and effect of this system as well as the hint for us.The electoral system is not only the legal system, but also the political pattern, and the main form of the democracy. The discovery of the Scottish Parliament makes us see the future of Scottish and British constitution.
Keywords/Search Tags:Scottish Parliament, Additional Member System, British constitution
PDF Full Text Request
Related items