The Politics of Scotland
This is an excerpt from the paper...
Scotland is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, along with the principality of Wales. Scotland and England were formerly separate states. Scotland, along with the rest of the United Kingdom, is governed primarily from Westminster. The secretary of state for Scotland administers government ministries relating to welfare and economy. Scotland is represented in the British Parliament by 72 members. Scotland has a legal system which is separate and different from that of the rest of Great Britain. In it, the High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court, and its civil counterpart is the Court of Session. For the purposes of local government, Scotland was divided into 33 counties until 1975, when they were reorganized into nine administrative regions. Scotland has been part of the United Kingdom since the eighteenth century, but by the middle of this century a new nationalist movement had emerged. Home rule failed to win approval in a 1979 referendum but has gained new support in the early 1990s. The shift of power from Westminster to a ruling body in Scotland is known as devolution, and it is seen as a precursor to possible separation. The Scots voted for devolution last year and created their own legislative body, but it is no clear if the move for separation is as strong as was the move for devolution or if the two states will remain connected if separately governed. When the Conservatives were in power, devolution was not on
. . .
olls suggested that the English favored devolution if the Scots wanted it. The question was raised whether the public would continue to think this way if it became known that the Scots wanted not only their own government, but huge subsidies from English taxpayers and extra votes in Britain's Parliament as well ("A Recipe for Failure" 52). This also calls into question any idea that devolution at present would mean the complete separation from Britain, for what the Scots want is home rule along with certain benefits derived from union.
However, others see the possibility of separation in time if the Scots see an advantage in it, and these commentators also see advantages to England if Scotland ever does decide to withdraw:
Scotland has better welfare services than England (or at least more expensive ones). It has them because every secretary of state since Tom Johnston has scared cabinets with the bogeyman of Scottish nationalism. The financial arrangements for devolution will maintain that advantage. So both English and Scots should be relaxed if the Scottish Parliament votes for independence. The Scots won't vote for it unless they think it will be good for them (Mclean 19).
The British would benefit by saving money.
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Scottish Parliament, Tony Blair, United Kingdom, Party Conference, Lord Chancellor, Britain Groom, Jack Straw, English MPs, Catholics Scottish, Scotland Scotland's, home rule, united kingdom, regional government, scotland united kingdom, scotland statesman august, scottish home rule, highland games, supporters regional, labour party, separation scots, labor party, move devolution, supporters regional government, directly elected assembly, votes party,
Approximate Word count = 1532
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
More Essays on The Politics of Scotland
|
Customer Service
to Over
32,000 Professionally Written Papers!!!
