Political system of Scotland

The Scotland is one of the four nations constitutive of the the United Kingdom which does not have a single written constitution. Until the Act of Union of 1707, Scotland was an independent nation. However, following these Acts of Union, the English and Scottish Parliaments dissolved and were replaced by a single Parliament for all Great Britain which used the buildings and the institutional system of the old English Parliament. The Scottish and English crowns were joined together in 1603 by Jacques VI of Scotland when he became Jacques Ier of England. In 1801, the Ireland was in its turn integrated into the United Kingdom.

Until 1999, Scotland did not have a specifically national legislation, in spite of various attempts during the years to establish durably a kind of Home Rule.

Scottish Parliament

The election of the workers party in 1997 had ensured the behavior of a referendum on the installation of an autonomous Scottish Parliament. Held in September 1997, 75% of the Scot voted in favor of his setting-up.

The Parliament was born following the Scotland Act from 1998 from the British Parliament. This act exposes the subjects on which Westminster remains qualified, called " reserved matters" (" subjects réservés"), such as Defense, economic Foreign affairs, fiscal policies and, legislations on the narcotics and the audio-visual one - to name some of them. All that is not evoked in the " subjects réservés" fall automatically under the authority from Scotland, like health, education, the local government, and any other kind of questions. It is about one of the basic differences between the Scottish Act of 1998, crowned success, and that of 1978, fallen through.

The Parliament is elected by Scrutin proportional plurinominal, contrary to that of Westminster which still uses with a majority Uninominal system with a turn. Elections take place every four years to off choose the 129 deputies called Members the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)

The poll proportional plurinominal allowed the election of candidates of parties which would not have been represented according to the preceding system.

See too

Left and political movements to Scotland

Bibliograhie

Jacques Leruez, Scotland. Old Nation, young State , Crozon, Editions Ermine, 2000. ISBN 2-910878-10-4

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