1. Functions of the Parliament

2. What am I learning today? About the second function of the Scottish Parliament The representation of voters

3. Representation of Scottish Voters In order for all Scottish voters to be fairly represented, the elections use a form of Proportional Representation. This means that the share of seats each party receives following an election broadly reflects its level of support among voters.

4. The Voting System Scotland is split up into 73 different CONSTITUENCIES. Your constituency is either GLASGOW SHETTLESTON or GLASGOW PROVAN. Scotland is also split up into 8 different REGIONS. Our region is Glasgow. Each constituency has 1 MSP and each region has 7 MSPs to REPRESENT them. How many MSPs are there?

5. There are 73 Constituency MSPs and 56 Regional MSPs. Altogether, there are 129 MSPs. Regions of Scotland There are 8 regions of Scotland: West of Scotland, Lothians, South Scotland, Central Scotland Mid Scotland and Fife, Glasgow, North East Scotland, Highlands and Islands

6. Voters are given two ballot papers Constituency VoteRegional Vote

7. The Scottish Parliament uses a combination of voting systems: The system is called The Additional Member System (AMS) 1.First Past the Post 2.The Party List CONSTITUENCY VOTE Elected using the FPTP system (person with the most votes wins). The electorate is given the choice of different people, most of who belong to a political party. REGIONAL VOTE Elected using AMS Each party has a list of representatives. This system is used so that the percentage of votes a party receives in the Election is about the same as the number of seats they win in the parliament.

8. Activities 1.The Scottish Parliament is not representative of the electorate. Explain. Updated figures- 2011- there are now 45 female MSPs There are now 2 MSPs from Ethnic Minorities.

9. Homework Describe the devolved and reserved powers of the Scottish Parliament. (8 marks) ‏

10. The first reserved power of the Scottish Parliament is Social Security (1). An example of a law which was passed under Social Security was the Welfare Reform Act which was passed in 2009. This act made changes to the benefits system and affected people who claimed benefits (1).