Scottish Highers · Higher Modern Studies

Democracy in Scotland and the United Kingdom

28 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

Practise Democracy in Scotland and the United Kingdom now

Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 28 questions

  1. What is a manifesto?
  2. Which body in Scotland is responsible for making laws on devolved matters such as health and education?
  3. Which of the following is a reserved matter that is decided at Westminster and not in Holyrood?
  4. How are MSPs elected to the Scottish Parliament?
  5. A party wins few constituency seats but many votes on the regional list. What is the likely effect of the additional member system?
  6. Which statement describes a minority government?
  7. What is the role of the First Minister of Scotland?
  8. Which of these is a way in which citizens can influence decisions in Scotland between elections?
  9. Which factor is associated with the pattern of voting in the United Kingdom?
  10. Some argue that the media has too much influence on voting. Which statement is evidence for this view?
  11. How many Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) are there?
  12. In the Scottish Parliament, how many regional list MSPs are elected from each of the eight regions?
  13. Which of the following is a reserved matter, decided by the UK Parliament for the whole of the UK?
  14. Which of these policy areas is devolved to the Scottish Parliament?
  15. Which Act of the UK Parliament established the Scottish Parliament?
  16. What was the result of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum?
  17. What did the Scotland Act 2016 give the Scottish Parliament power over?
  18. What is the Sewel Convention?
  19. Why was a Section 30 order used for the 2014 independence referendum?
  20. In November 2022 the UK Supreme Court ruled on the Scottish Parliament and independence referendums. What was the conclusion?
  21. Under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, who wins in a constituency?
  22. In a constituency, the votes were: Party A 18 000, Party B 15 000, Party C 9 000, Party D 3 000. Under FPTP, what share of the votes did the winner receive, and what proportion of votes were 'wasted'…
  23. Under the Additional Member System, a party has 80 000 regional list votes and has won 3 constituency seats and no list seats so far. Using the D'Hondt method, what figure is used to allocate the firs…
  24. What is the voting age for elections to the Scottish Parliament and for local government elections in Scotland?
  25. How is the House of Lords mostly made up?
  26. Which statement about how the UK voted in the 2016 EU referendum is correct?
  27. What is meant by 'insider' pressure groups?
  28. Which organisation regulates broadcasters such as the BBC and ITV for the UK?

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