Democratic political society in Scotland
What is a constitutional monarchy?
Scotland is part of the United Kingdom (UK).
The UK is a constitutional monarchy. The monarch is the head of state, but this role is largely symbolic. This means that the monarch has no real power. The Government runs the country on behalf of the monarch and the Parliament has responsibility for making laws.
Image caption, King Charles III, the UK's current monarch. (PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo)
1 of 2
What is a constitution?
A constitution sets out rules and regulations of how a country is run. The UK does not have a written constitution like the USA. Instead, it can be found in many different places including laws, decisions taking by judges and tradition.
What is a representative democracy?
The United Kingdom (UK) is a A type of government where people govern themselves or elect representatives to govern for them.. In the UK there are too many people to all discuss all the the decisions about how the country is run. Therefore Someone who acts on the behalf of another person, or group of people, eg a politician who is elected to represent voters. are elected to make decisions on our behalf.
Representatives include Members of Parliament (MPs), Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and local councillors.
These representatives are usually members of a political party. In Scotland the main political parties are:
- Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Scottish Green Party
- Scottish Labour
- Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Scottish National Party