Has the Scottish Parliament Met Its Founding Principles?
- Submitted by: kellsa7x
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- Category: Politics
- Date Submitted: 10/23/2013 12:11 PM
- Pages: 2
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Critically examine the view that the Scottish Parliament has met its Founding Principles.
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland and is located in Holyrood which is in the Capital; Edinburgh. In 1999, the Scottish Parliament set four founding principles: to embrace equal opportunities, to power share, to be accessible and to be accountable. It is clearly evident that the Scottish Parliament has met its founding principles to a large extent and will be discussed in this essay.
The Scottish Parliament aimed to embrace Equal Opportunities. They were successful in this due to the 36% female representation rate the parliament enjoys today. This was achieved by allowing a crèche on site which appeased the problem of childcare and allowed more women to be flexible with their work and children. The representation of women is also proven to be better than Westminster; 1/3 compared to 1/5. Furthermore, there is also a compulsory Equal Opportunities Committee in the parliament, convened by Mary Fee (Labour). However, despite the success in representing females, the Scottish Parliament fails to represent ethnic minorities. Within the Scottish Parliament, there are only two ethnic minority MSPs and to be in line with society, it should be around four. Also, the 36% of women in the Parliament is not near the 51% of the population; therefore it not representative. Overall, the Scottish Parliament has successfully met its aim to embrace Equal Opportunities due to the help offered to women in parliament and committees being created.
Power Sharing has been met by the Scottish Parliament in many ways. This is due to the Additional Member System; making it increasingly difficult for one party to achieve a majority. The Scottish Parliament encourages coalitions to be formed and this is when two or more political parties unite and govern the country together. For example, this was executed successfully from 1999 to 2007 by the...
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland and is located in Holyrood which is in the Capital; Edinburgh. In 1999, the Scottish Parliament set four founding principles: to embrace equal opportunities, to power share, to be accessible and to be accountable. It is clearly evident that the Scottish Parliament has met its founding principles to a large extent and will be discussed in this essay.
The Scottish Parliament aimed to embrace Equal Opportunities. They were successful in this due to the 36% female representation rate the parliament enjoys today. This was achieved by allowing a crèche on site which appeased the problem of childcare and allowed more women to be flexible with their work and children. The representation of women is also proven to be better than Westminster; 1/3 compared to 1/5. Furthermore, there is also a compulsory Equal Opportunities Committee in the parliament, convened by Mary Fee (Labour). However, despite the success in representing females, the Scottish Parliament fails to represent ethnic minorities. Within the Scottish Parliament, there are only two ethnic minority MSPs and to be in line with society, it should be around four. Also, the 36% of women in the Parliament is not near the 51% of the population; therefore it not representative. Overall, the Scottish Parliament has successfully met its aim to embrace Equal Opportunities due to the help offered to women in parliament and committees being created.
Power Sharing has been met by the Scottish Parliament in many ways. This is due to the Additional Member System; making it increasingly difficult for one party to achieve a majority. The Scottish Parliament encourages coalitions to be formed and this is when two or more political parties unite and govern the country together. For example, this was executed successfully from 1999 to 2007 by the...