The Scottish Government

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Introduction

1. The creation of the Scottish Parliament and Executive in 1999 transformed the political landscape in Scotland. Policy on many key domestic matters, such as health, education and law and order, are now settled by these institutions, for whom Scottish affairs are their sole concern (Bromley et al, 2006). Advocates of the devolution settlement hoped that the redistribution of powers and responsibilities between Scotland and Westminster would not only give Scotland greater influence over its own affairs, but also strengthen Scotland's voice in the UK. Moreover, in giving Scotland greater autonomy to determine its own policies, it was hoped that devolution would succeed in re-engaging a public displaying increasing disenchantment with government in general (Dewar, 1998, Bromley et al, 2006). The Consultative Steering Group (the group responsible for considering the operational needs and working methods of the new Parliament) placed a strong emphasis on the need for the Parliament to secure public interest and engagement in its activities. It envisaged a more active role for individuals and organisations in decision-making and stated that the new Parliament 'should adopt procedures and practices that people will understand, that will engage their interest, and that will encourage them to obtain information and express their views' (Scottish Office, 1999).

2. This report considers the extent to which these aspirations for devolution have been met in the eyes of the Scottish public. In particular, it addresses the following key questions:

3. In the first section of this report, we compare evidence from the 2004 and 2005 Scottish Social Attitudes surveys on awareness of the work of the Scottish Executive and UK Government. Awareness may not be a sufficient condition for engaging the public with government (since awareness of activities does not imply active involvement or interest in them), but it is arguably a necessary one. If the public is not aware of what the Scottish Executive is doing, they are unlikely to be engaged at any more meaningful level. Moreover, if devolution has indeed brought government closer to the people of Scotland, it is also arguable that they should be at least as aware of the activities of the Scottish Executive as they are of the work of the UK government at Westminster.

4. If the Parliament and Executive have adopted 'procedures and practices that people will understand', one might also expect that people should have a basic knowledge of how governance in Scotland now works. We explore findings from a knowledge 'quiz' to assess how much people know about governance in Scotland. Further, given the aspiration of the Consultative Steering Group that the Parliament succeed in engaging 'in particular those groups traditionally excluded from the democratic process' (Scottish Office, 1999), we also explore which groups are more or less aware of Scottish Executive activities and who is more or less knowledgeable about Scottish devolution and governance.

5. In addition to comparing levels of awareness of the UK government and Scottish Executive, we also explore perceptions of the comparative influence of these bodies over how Scotland is run. Using data from Scottish Social Attitudes surveys from 1999 to 2005 we explore trends in public perceptions of where the balance of power in Scottish politics does and ought to lie. How do the public view the actual influence of Westminster and Scotland over Scottish affairs? Are they happy with the current state of affairs, or would they prefer the Scottish institutions to have more influence?

6. The success of devolution in giving Scotland a greater voice in the UK has also been widely debated in the Scottish and UK media (see for example the controversial assessment of devolution published in the Economist in May 2006 ¹). In the final section of this report, we examine the attitudes of people in Scotland towards this issue - do they think devolution has strengthened, weakened, or made no difference to Scotland's voice in the UK?

7. Our data come from the Scottish Social Attitudes ( SSA) survey conducted by the Scottish Centre for Social Research. SSA is an independent survey that aims to provide high quality survey data on a wide range of social and political attitudes in order both to inform public policy and to facilitate the academic study of public opinion. As part of this endeavour SSA has tracked attitudes to devolved government in Scotland annually since 1999, the year of the first election to the Scottish Parliament. This report details the survey's most recent findings based on interviews conducted in 2005. Between July and December of that year a random sample of 1,549 adults aged 18 plus resident in Scotland was interviewed, representing a response rate of 56%. Further technical details about the survey are included in a separate technical report ².

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