The Story of the Scottish Parliament

The First Two Decades Explained

Gerry Hassan

• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• Year: 2019
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• eBook ISBN:
  9781474454919
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Marking the first twenty years of the Scottish Parliament, this collection of essays assesses its impact on Scotland, the UK and Europe, and compares progress against pre-devolution hopes and expectations. Bringing together the voices of ministers and advisers, leading political scientists and historians, commentators, journalists and former civil servants, it builds an authoritative account of what the Scottish Parliament has made of devolution and an essential guide to the powers Holyrood may need for Scotland to flourish in an increasingly uncertain world.

Table of contents

• The Story of the Scottish Parliament
• Copyright
• Contents
• Tables
• Notes on the Contributors
• INTRODUCTION Back to the Future: Exploring Twenty Years of Scotland’s Journey, Stories and Politics
• Part One The Political Institutions and Environment
• ONE The Electorate and Elections
• TWO Attitudes to Constitutional Change
• THREE The Scottish Government
• FOUR The Scottish Civil Service
• FIVE The Scottish Parliament and ‘New Politics’ at Twenty
• SIX The Emergence of a Scottish Political Class
• SEVEN The Committee System of the Scottish Parliament
• EIGHT Scotland and Westminster and Continental Drift
• NINE British Political Tradition and Scottish Local Government
• TEN Public Spending and Taxation
• Part Two Scotland’s Political Parties
• ELEVEN SNP: Devolution Winners
• TWELVE The Fall of the House of Scottish Labour
• THIRTEEN The Scottish Conservative Party: Wilderness to Recovery
• FOURTEEN The Liberal Democrats: From Coalition to the Margins
• FIFTEEN Greens: Radical and Relevant?
• SIXTEEN Socialism in a Cold Climate: the Radical Left since 1999
• Part Three The Wider Environment
• SEVENTEEN Scotland’s Brexit Blues
• EIGHTEEN Europe
• NINETEEN Independence and Union Revisited: Recent Interpretations in Scottish History, Literature and Politics
• Part Four Inside Politics
• TWENTY The Parliament Sits in the Land
• TWENTY-ONE Devolution: An Assessment
• TWENTY-TWO Inside the Changing Business of Governing Scotland
• TWENTY-THREE The Journey of the Scottish Parliament to Maturity
• TWENTY-FOUR From Think Twice to Radical Devolution: A Scottish Conservative Movement
• TWENTY-FIVE The Scottish Parliament: Past Dreams, Present Realities, Possible Futures
• Appendix: A Chronology of Scottish Politics and Devolution 1997-2019
• Index