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Media: the media is a collective name for newspapers, television, radio, and internet based news reporting.
Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs): the individuals elected to serve and represent the people of Scotland in Parliament. There are 129 MSPs.
Ministers: MSPs who are also members of the Scottish Government.
Motion: A proposal that is considered by the Parliament or a Committee. A statement or argument that has to be debated and voted upon in the Chamber.
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Official Report: This is the official record of everything that is said and decided upon in the Parliament. Official Reporters can be seen in the Chamber and committee rooms when the Parliament or Committees meet. Their job is to note everything that is said, and then turn it into a readable document.
Overall Majority: When a political party or group has more than half of the total number of seats in the Parliament.
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Parliament: A parliament is a group of elected representatives that debates and decides upon new laws. You might hear the Scottish Parliament referred to simply as “the Parliament”.
Participation: the idea of “taking part”, in this case, taking part in a democracy. This might be through voting in an election, standing for election, joining a political party, or taking part in a campaign to change something you feel strongly about. The Scottish Parliament is committed to encouraging participation, particularly among young people.
Political Parties: These are the different groups of people who try to get elected to Parliament. They have their own set of ideas about what they think is most important, and what they want to do if they get elected. The parties that are represented in the Scottish Parliament at the moment are: the Scottish National Party, the Scottish Labour Party, the Scottish Conservative Party, the Scottish Liberal Democrats, and the Green Party.
Petition: a way for a member of the public to let a parliament or government know they would like something to change. The Scottish Parliament has a special Public Petitions Committee to deal with them, and accepts petitions by e-mail.
Policies: These are the ideas and proposals that the different parties have for changing things that they don’t like, or improving things they are in favour of.
Presiding Officer: The Presiding Officer is an MSP who is elected by the other MSPs. He or she makes sure that the business of the Parliament is carried out fairly, on time, within the rules and in an orderly manner. There are also two Deputy Presiding Officers.
Pressure groups: These are organisations that want to change policy. They focus on particular issues. Some examples are Amnesty, Save the Children and Shelter.
Proportional Representation: This is a way of counting the votes in an election. Under proportional representation, the number of MSPs each Party ends up with in the Parliament is closely linked to the percentage of votes they got in the election.
Prospective Parliamentary Candidates: the people who stand for election to Parliament.
Public Gallery: The seats on the balcony of the main Chamber where the public can sit and watch what’s happening.
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Queensberry House: One of the buildings that makes up the Scottish Parliament. It is a 17th century building that includes the offices of the Presiding officer and other officials.
Question Time: A period of up to 60 minutes each week when questions are asked to ministers in the Chamber.
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Referendum: A referendum is held when the Government wants to find out what everybody in the country thinks about a particular subject. In 1997 there was a referendum in Scotland on whether there should be a Scottish Parliament. Most people were in favour, so the UK Parliament passed a law accordingly, and the Scottish Parliament opened on July 1st 1999.
Region: A larger area which contains a number of smaller constituencies. Scotland is divided into 8 Regions, each with 7 MSPs.
Regional MSPs: These MSPs are elected by a proportional system called the Additional Member System. There are 56 Regional MSPs in the Scottish Parliament. They have the same responsibilities as Constituency MSPs, although they cover a larger area. They are sometimes called “list members” as they are elected from a political party list for that region.
Representation: the idea of acting on behalf of someone else. For example, MSPs represent their constituents (the people living in the area where they were elected from). They do this in many different ways, such as holding surgeries in their constituencies where people can raise problems with them, they can ask questions in Parliament, and might even propose new laws to change things. They are expected to represent everyone in their constituency, whether or not the constituent voted for them at the election.
Reserved matters: The policy issues that are still decided at UK level (in “Westminster”), such as Defence, Foreign Affairs, Employment Law, and Social Security.
Rights and responsibilities: In a democracy, everyone has rights (things you are free to do) and responsibilities (things you are expected to do), e.g. you have the right to vote in an election, but you have the responsibility to accept the choice of the majority; you have the right to drive a car, but you have the responsibility to pass a test first.
Royal Assent: When a Bill has been passed by the Scottish Parliament, the Queen is asked for her approval. When it has been signed by her, it becomes an Act of the Scottish Parliament.