Lesson Starter‘Local councillors do a

very important job’

To what extent do you agree with this statement? Give reasons for your answer.

Today we will…•Define the term “participation”.•List the ways that UK citizens can participate in the UK political system.

Success Criteria• I can provide detailed

examples of how people can participate in the UK.

• I can write a detailed answer to a National 4/5 Knowledge question.

Participation• Taking part in

something (politics)• A democracy would

not work if people did not participate in it

• There are a variety of different ways that a citizen can take part (participate) in Scottish politics

Participation

How do citizens participate

in a democracy?

Think about everything we have studied. Try to come up with a list of

ways that ordinary citizens can participate

in politics.

Social Target: Listening

Academic Target: To produce a list showing ways to

participate

Participation

How do citizens participate

in a democracy?

Stand and Deliver

How do citizens participate

in a democracy?

Video Clip…• http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/

clips/political-participation/4053.html

Ways UK citizens can take part (participate) in

politics• Joining a party – UK citizens can join an array of political parties – someone may decide to join a party if they support that parties beliefs and would want to see that party in power – A UK citizen may join the SNP (Scottish National Party) if they were in favour of Scottish Independence.

• Canvassing – This involves party members spreading the word about their party and its beliefs in order to win that party votes at election time – At election time this can be done by handing out leaflets, going door-to-door and talking to voters, phoning voters. This specifically targets ‘floating voters’ who have yet to decide who they will vote for.

• Standing as a candidate – A party member can decide to put their name forward as a candidate at election time – if the candidate is successful, dependent on the election, they could become an MP, MSP, MEP or Local Councillor and be directly involved in representing and decision making.

• Joining and participating in a pressure group – If UK citizens are concerned about particular issues they can join pressure groups e.g. Greenpeace – Environmental Pressure Group. They could then take part in protests, signing petitions, lobbying politicians etc.

Explain• In groups, explain and give examples for

the following points.

1.Joining a party2.Canvassing3.Standing as a candidate4.Joining a pressure group

• As a party member you can show your support in a number of ways:

• Donate money: as a party member or by contributing to the campaign

• Attend meetings

• Volunteer to: hand out leaflets & posters

• drive your candidate around

• canvass voters (drum up support)

• drive voters to the polling station

• help to fundraise• do some clerical work

Examples for Joining a political party…

Question: Describe the ways that citizens can participate in the UK political system.

(National 4 – 4 Marks) (National 5 – 8 Marks)

• P (Point) – One way that UK citizens can participate in UK politics is by VOTING

• E (Explain) – Voting allows UK citizens to have their say in regards to who represents them and runs their country and in the UK a General Elections is held every 4/5 years.

• E (Example) – For example, a citizen might vote for the SNP if they are in favour of Scottish independence.

Homework• Find examples of

pressure groups and their aims

• You will be able to use these as examples for questions

PEE

• PEE is an effective way to structure your answer as it lets the examiner know where marks are to be awarded.

• If your Knowledge and Understanding question is worth…– 4 Marks = 2xPEE– 6 Marks = 3xPEE– 8 Marks = 4xPEE

Was I successful? • I can provide detailed

examples of how people can participate in the UK.

• I can write a detailed answer with examples to a National Knowledge question.

• There are different political parties in Scotland that you can support. Or, some people stand as an ‘Independent candidate’ in an election. This means that they do not have a particular political party.

• The following pages show each political party in the Scottish Parliament and their most recent election pledges.

• When a party makes promises before an election this is called a ‘manifesto’. This is what the party will do once elected.

Joining a Political Party Conservative

Labour

Liberal Democrats

SNPLeader – Ruth Davison

Leader – Johann Lamont

Leader – Willie Rennie

Leader – Alex Salmond (First Minister for Scotland)

Carousel Task Each group will be given a party manifesto. As you move round the tables, study the manifesto pledges for each party. Decide which party you would vote for. Who do you support? Labour? SNP? Conservatives? Explain why. Say why you did not choose the others.You can make a table with your findings:

Labour

Conservative

SNP

Greens

Liberal Democrats