Places and forms of Power, Bac Anglais LV1, Independence of Scotland

Notion 3: Places and Forms of power

I am going to talk about the notion Places and Forms of power. First of all, I would like to define this notion.  In politics and social science, power is the ability to influence the behavior of people. In order to live together members of a community accept rules, regulations, laws. This helps to create social cohesion but can also lead to conflicts and tensions. Even when authority seems absolute, there are always counter-powers which question it, aim at limiting its excesses and resist it. The word « places » could be buildings, institutions or it could also be a country.

I have chosen to illustrate this notion through the Indyref which is to say the referendum for the independence of Scotland. So very simply a referendum is a vote in which all the people or an area are asked to give their opinion or make a decision about an important political or social question.

This can lead us to think about the following question: Should Scotland be independent?

To answer this question, we will focus on the arguments given by the pro-independence and then the arguments given by those who are against it.

1. Pro

The question of the independence of Scotland divides the public opinion. Some support it while others are opposed to it and there are also those who don’t really care or don’t have any opinion on it because they lack the necessary information

        As we saw in the video Scottish symbols and icons Scotland has its own identity and this issue of identity is one of the arguments used by the pro-independence side. Indeed, Scotland has its own culture, its own customs, its people doesn’t live the same way as the English for example. There is a question of nationalism of course. In the article in Glasgow Scots are very Scottish pupils were asked how they felt: British, Scottish or both. Most of the pupils felt Scottish. They are patriotic, love Scotland and they can name Scottish heroes easily whereas they were unable to name English ones. They consider that Scotland is different from England. They feel more concerned by Scotland and its culture.

In addition to this in the same article we saw that a part of the Scots thinks that the UK system in biased in favor of England, that they don’t have as much power as England, that they are, in a certain way, crushed down by England. They think England has advantages over Scotland, that they are not on an equal footing. All these reasons contribute to the fact that they want to quit the UK.

Moreover, some think that the real issue of the independence is not even about economy or nationalism but about democracy. They believe decisions about Scotland are best made by the people who live there and not by the government of Westminster as they often do not reflect the majority vote in Scotland. With the independence, Scotland would always get the government it voted for and this government would make decisions that reflect Scottish priorities. That is an argument that we can find in an interview of two teenagers (one pro and one against) studied in class.

        The independence would also allow Scotland to manage its own immigration policy for example, adopting regulations that would be more suited to the country’s needs. For example, overseas graduates would be allowed to stay on and work in Scotland for a couple of years once their studies were over to balance the growing number of older people which is not the case in the rest of the UK.

We can also say that being independent would be a proof of confidence in themselves and their nation. Scottish people want to believe in their model, want to believe that their model is viable and maybe more viable by itself than with the UK.  

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