Scottish students do not have to pay This was because they did not have a to go to university or college. majority of seats in the SP and so had to rely on the support of MSPs from other parties to win votes in Parliament. They failed for example to pass a law on Alcohol Minimum Pricing in 2010 because opposition MSPs (mostly Labour) voted against it. MORE REPRESENTATIVES CONFLICT BETWEEN TYPES OF AMS is a proportional system which REPRESENTATIVES maintains the link constituents have Because the AMS system in Scotland with a constituency MSP whilst also leads to constituency MSPs and providing constituents with 7 other regional MSPs this can create conflict regional MSPs. More choice for over who is the most important. constituents about who to approach with issues. In August 2003, the then Labour MP Brian Wilson described list MSPs as “a For example, someone living in waste of space”. There is an element Carntyne might approach the of rivalry between constituency and constituency MSP for Glasgow Provan List MSPs. Constituency MSPs tend to – – Labour MSP Paul Martin or they see themselves as the "real" MSP for might rather speak to one of the 7 the constituency. regional MSPs for Glasgow, such as Patrick Harvie MSP of the Green Party or Ruth Davidson MSP of the Conservative party. LESS WASTED VOTES CONFUSING Under the AMS, less votes will be A major criticism of the AMS is that it “wasted”. This is because seats are is difficult to understand. A complex awarded proportionally rather than a formula is used to allocate seats and “winner takes all” scenario as is the each person has 8 MSPs, unlike with case with FPTP. FPTP which is a very straightforward system where constituents have 1 representative. For example, in the Glasgow region in 2011, 3 Labour, 2 SNP, 1 Conservative and 1 Green MSP were elected. Because there are 8 MSPs that citizens Under FPTP, only Labour and maybe can potentially approach this might lead the SNP would have gained to confusion as to who to approach. representation in Glasgow and Also, having to vote twice in an election
Scottish students do not have to pay to go to university or college. This was because they did not have a majority of seats in the SP and so had to rely on the support of MSPs from other parties to win votes in Parliament. They failed for example to pass a law on Alcohol Minimum Pricing in 2010 because opposition MSPs (mostly Labour) voted against it. MORE REPRESENTATIVES AMS is a proportional system which maintains the link constituents have with a constituency MSP whilst also providing constituents with 7 other regional MSPs. More choice for constituents about who to approach with issues. For example, someone living in Carntyne might approach the constituency MSP for Glasgow Provan – Labour MSP Paul Martin – or they might rather speak to one of the 7 regional MSPs for Glasgow, such as Patrick Harvie MSP of the Green Party or Ruth Davidson MSP of the Conservative party. CONFLICT BETWEEN TYPES OF REPRESENTATIVES Because the AMS system in Scotland leads to constituency MSPs and regional MSPs this can create conflict over who is the most important. In August 2003, the then Labour MP Brian Wilson described list MSPs as “a waste of space”. There is an element of rivalry between constituency and List MSPs. Constituency MSPs tend to see themselves as the "real" MSP for the constituency. LESS WASTED VOTES Under the AMS, less votes will be “wasted”. This is because seats are awarded proportionally rather than a “winner takes all” scenario as is the case with FPTP. For example, in the Glasgow region in 2011, 3 Labour, 2 SNP, 1 Conservative and 1 Green MSP were elected. Under FPTP, only Labour and maybe the SNP would have gained representation in Glasgow and CONFUSING A major criticism of the AMS is that it is difficult to understand. A complex formula is used to allocate seats and each person has 8 MSPs, unlike with FPTP which is a very straightforward system where constituents have 1 representative. Because there are 8 MSPs that citizens can potentially approach this might lead to confusion as to who to approach. Also, having to vote twice in an election
AMS-Advantages-and-Disadvantages-with-examples.docx