Easy intro to British Politics
I frequently get asked for an easy to understand guide to the UK political system. Until recently I lacked an adequate answer. But BBC’s Democracy Live page has a whole host of simple guides to UK institutions. Useful for citizenship, lower school PSHE (for teachers and pupils) and those new to AS looking to do a bit of home research.
Constitution Unit website - a great resource
If you are a constitutional reform anorak like me, you will probably have already been accessing the new and significantly improved site at UCL’s Constitution Unit.
In addition to the very detailed reports they publish on the constitution, it is now possible to watch videos of events held at the unit, and details of forthcoming events are laid out more clearly.
Not only can it be plundered for detailed analysis of constitutional reform, but if Politics students want to supplement their personal statements in order to show that their level of interest really does extend beyond the classroom, then making use of what’s on offer from the unit creates a much better impression than saying you like watching the BBC’s Question Time.
Here is a link to a video recording of an excellent presentation by Professor Vernon Bogdanor on the coalition and the constitution as a starting off point for investigating the site’s contents.
Follow me on Twitter
On Twitter I have been posting links to news stories that are an essential daily read for students of Politics that I have come across as part of my personal reading on the web.
This type of heads up on what is in the news is not a substitute for students doing their own reading, but I know that for many students it is the case that there is so much information freely available on the web that it is not always easy to discriminate between items in terms of their direct relevance to the syllabus. This is where the posts are supposed to fill the gap. Just a couple of links each day, and if students have time to read more then they can use these stories as a starting point for further browsing.
My students have already said they find it useful, and I hope more can.
Follow me on @bgsmacca
Have post 1997 constitutional reforms been a success?
Following the stunning victory in the Scottish elections by Alex Salmond’s SNP, much has been made about whether we are now closer to the break up of Britain. This debate in exam terms is subsumed into a wider debate about constitutional reform and whether (a) it has been a success (b) it has gone far enough.
In the latest edition of the exambuster I stripped out most of the lengthy analysis of devolution since it was rendered superfluous by new style questions on Edexcel Unit 2. But here is a snippet on the Scottish devolution debate.
read more...»AS Politics: constitutional reform update
Promises made by leaders in Holyrood and Cardiff Bay that the devolved governments will pay for the proposed hike in tuition fees have led some to argue that we are witnessing the development of educational apartheid.
This latest controversy gives us a chance to revisit the debate on devolution.
read more...»Politics Classroom Posters - Devolution
This new classroom poster set focuses on the topic of devolution and covers:
- The difference between devolution and federalism
- Origins of devolution
- Devolution - powers and responsibilities
- Devolution in action - positives and negatives
- Impact of devolution on British politics
- Future of the UK as a unitary state?
Order the Devolution Classroom Poster set here
Useful Politics online resources on the BBC
The BBC has launched a new online service that should make tracking politics on film easier.
There’s also a very useful section on the various governing institutions, what powers they have, and so forth.
I also came across a section on the online archives on Mrs Thatcher. Lots of clips and Panorama interviews that I once stored on VHS tapes.
Developments in devolution
Donald Dewar, the chief architect of Scottish devolution, is reported to have said that devoution is a process, not an event. News emerging this week serves only to confirm this.
read more...»AS revision: devolution
The 10th anniversary of the first round of elections to the new devolved arenas in Scotland and Wales passed by earlier this month, and the 10th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament reconvening after a gap of nearly 300 years happens next month.
A whole clutch of news outlets have considered the impact of a decade of devolution and a browse through any of the special reports would help consolidate understanding on this topic.
read more...»A decade of devolution
My media Monday material is drawn from the rather excellent Total Politics magazine
read more...»Devolution turns to drink
This story may appear elsewhere on the tutor2u website, but the politics of it are what we are concerned with here. I have written previously about how Scotland has poughed a tartan furrow in a number of social and welfare policy areas (tuition fees, care for the elderly, etc) and this week the Scottish government laid out radical plans to tackle alcohol abuse.
read more...»Devolution disaster?
To what extent does the current budget crisis strengthen or weaken the argument for devolution?
If you are behind the curve on this, the SNP government’s £33b budget for the next fiscal year was voted down by a coalition of Labour, Lib Dem and Green MSPs. Now the Lib Dems have committed a volte face and are apparently back in negotiations with the SNP about overcoming the impasse. The main Lib Dem sticking point was a 2p income tax cut the party wanted that the SNP would not agree to. The Lib Dems may now be prepared to drop that as part of the deal.
If the budget fails a second time, then the government is expected to resign and fresh elections called.
As one of the blogger pointed out on the BBC website, Scotland has gone from a coalition government, to minority government, and now small parties are determining who governs. Is this what the Scots wanted in a devolution settlement? Something else to consider is whether this is the kind of shenanigans we would want in the Westminster Parliament - after all this is what a post PR world would probably look like.
(Not so many) developments in devolution
According to the Herald:
‘The “informal” relationship between the Scottish Government and Westminster cannot last and needs to change, a body examining the devolution set-up today found.
The Calman Commission has identified broadcasting, energy policy, animal health, firearms and mis-use of drugs among a range of areas which could see further powers given to Holyrood, in an interim report out today.
But it has rejected the prospect of full fiscal autonomy for Scotland under devolution.’
Interestingly a new book by the Constitution Unit concludes in its section on devolution that failure to cede more fiscal autonomy to north of the border is likely to result in increased tension between Westminster and Holyrood.
Single transferable vote
I bet these three words had readers salivating at the prospect of what was to come. Probably not. I once made the mistake of admitting that I liked electoral systems as a topic. My colleague showed no mercy.
Anyway, on my travels through electoral reform websites I have come across some computer generated graphical explanations. Useful teaching aids.
Election systems
My notes on the mechanics of the different systems we use to elect our representatives in the UK were getting a bit out of date, so with a scan through the Electoral Reform Society website and the BBC election results I reworked the exemplars.
Stoking the fire of the Scottish independence movement
I would hope that the Politics blog stimulates readers sufficiently to think about politics beyond being only an A level, and that there is some consideration of the significance of current events in shaping the way we are governed. Today’s Guardian contains an article suggesting that the devolution plans that Labour introduced for purely political reasons have backfired on them. But does this sort of comment really add much to the debate over our constitutional future?
read more...»Scottish independence: the long and winding road
If you read the papers online you might have missed this insightful article by Robert Hazell, the Constitution Unit’s director, on the steps that would need to be taken to usher in Scottish independence. It is buried away in the comment is free section of the Guardian
Scotland is not irrelevant. But it soon might be
Simon Jenkins, writing in the Sunday Times echoes my belief that at this very moment the Union is fragmenting beneath our feet. This article is essential background for teachers and students on the impact of devolution
read more...»Scottish independence in a decade?
In a follow up to one of my postings earlier this week, a political commentator for the Sunday Herald newspaper has written an article in today’s Guardian suggesting that Scotland could go its own way within the next decade. I know I might come across as a bit obsessed by this issue, but the prospect of the end of the Union is a very real one and arguably the biggest constitutional issue in the UK
read more...»New Labour’s legacy: the path to an independent Scotland?
Tristam Hunt in today’s Guardian paints a picture which suggests that the end of the Union is in sight
When historians look back on what New Labour’s major achievement was it could be long term stability in Northern Ireland or the introduction of a new rights based culture alongside a more activist judiciary. Or it could be that Tony Blair as PM, via the establishment of a devolved Scottish Parliament, was responsible for paving the way to the break up of Britain.
read more...»Devolution revision: differences in Scotland and Wales
How has devolution been delivered in these two parts of the Celtic fringe?
read more...»Devolution revision: West Lothian Question
5 reasons why I think that this is a problem that has been overstated
read more...»Devolution revision: the West Lothian Question
Here we consider why the West Lothian Question can be considered a problem. Later this week I will propose that it is perhaps an issue that has been overblown
read more...»Politics Categories
Scottish Parliament free resources
Scottish Parliament: free stuff
John Harris in the Guardian comments on the implications of the current Conservative leader’s views on the state of the union and it reminded me that there is a stack of useful resources available via the Scottish Parliament website.
Harris writes
Edinburgh was treated to a visit a couple of weeks ago by David Cameron. Ignoring clear signs of a rapprochement between the Tories and the SNP, he strayed close to politely telling the Scots off, bemoaning “the stain of separatism seeping through the union flag”.
If the Conservatives win the next Westminster election, political logic would push things in one of two directions: towards an autonomy at the outer reaches of what Scots politicos call “devolution max”, or full-blown secession. As Cameron’s turn in Edinburgh proved, the latter prospect is obviously causing Tories hair-raising disquiet.
If the “devolution max” option was pursued - possibly in tandem with a Tory-led scaling-down of Scottish representation in the Commons - the resulting tensions might just about be managed. The advent of a Cameron government could conceivably give the Scottish Labour party a new tactical freedom, and revive its fortunes at the SNP’s expense. But even then, separation could prove to be only one watershed move away. Imagine, for example, Cameron lending British support to another US-led military action, the Scots taking the same bitter umbrage as they have over Iraq, and the nationalists seizing their chance.
See the full article here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2232244,00.html
Download a colour poster illustrating the composition of the Holyrood assembly – ideal for electoral systems: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/education/resources/teachingResources/wallChart.htm
A poster of this can be ordered free here: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/education/contact/index.htm
Lots of other resources can be found here: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/education/resources/teachingResources/index.htm
