The Scottish Government

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Knowledge of Scottish governance and devolution

16. In addition to exploring overall awareness of Scottish Executive activities, broader knowledge of Scottish devolution and governance was explored through a series of questions presented as a 'quiz'. People were asked to say whether a series of statements about Scottish Executive and UK government responsibilities and the mechanics of devolution were true or false.

17. Table 3 shows the results, with the proportion giving the correct answer highlighted in bold. These confirm findings from 2004 that people have a better knowledge of the powers and responsibilities of the Scottish Executive and Parliament ( e.g. the areas of public spending over which they exercise control) than about the mechanics of the devolved institutions ( e.g. how the Scottish Parliament is composed and the difference between the Parliament and the Executive). Half (49%) correctly identified that decisions on health spending are made by the Scottish Executive and a similar proportion (54%) that the Scottish Executive does not decide the level of unemployment benefit paid to people in Scotland. However, only 13% correctly identified that the Scottish Parliament does not have around 70 members (the correct number is 129) and just a third correctly identified that the Scottish Executive and Scottish Parliament are not the same body.

Table 3 Responses to the knowledge of devolution 'quiz', 2005

18. In some respects, knowing the details of how many MSPs the parliament has or the names of the devolved institutions may seem less important than knowing what areas of policy the Scottish institutions are responsible for. If the Executive and Parliament wish to engage the Scottish public in their decision-making, arguably the most important thing for them to know is which areas of public life this covers. However, given the aspiration of the Consultative Steering Group that the new institutions adopt 'procedures and practices that people will understand', it could be argued that there is scope for improvement in public understanding of the 'mechanics' of devolution (in particular, the distinction between the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Parliament).

Who is most likely to display high levels of knowledge about devolution?

19. Using each of the individual knowledge 'quiz' questions, a 'knowledge scale' was created, with those people who failed to answer any questions correctly at one end and those who got all four right at the other. Overall, one in five people got none right, around half answered one or two correctly, and one in five (21%) got three or four right answers (Figure 3).

Figure 3 Number of items of correct in the knowledge quiz, 2004 and 2005 (%)

Sample size: 2004 = 1474, 2005 = 1358
Note to figure: excludes those who did not give any answer for one or more items in the 'quiz'

20. Unsurprisingly, knowledge levels vary across different groups (Table 4). Key differences include:

• Knowledge of the devolved institutions and their powers is strongly associated with self-reported interest in politics. Over a third (36%) of the most politically interested answered 3 or 4 items correctly, compared with just one in ten (11%) of those with low levels of interest.
• Those living in the least deprived areas are nearly three times as likely as those living in the most deprived areas to have a high level of knowledge (36% compared with 13%).
• Men are twice as likely as women to have a high level of knowledge (29% compared with 14%).
• Readers of broadsheet newspapers are more than twice as likely (40%) to have a high level of knowledge than those who read tabloids (15%) or those who don't read any daily newspaper at all (19%). This highlights the potential importance of the media in shaping people's knowledge about devolution (though the direction of this relationship is not necessarily obvious - it is arguable that choice of newspaper is affected by people's knowledge and interest in politics in the first place). It is also worth noting the strong relationship between education - which is also likely to affect knowledge levels - and newspaper readership ⁷.
• Those who favour Scottish independence are less likely than those who favour devolution to have a high level of knowledge about the devolved institutions and their powers (16% compared with 25%).
• Public sector employees were more likely (27%) than private sector employees (19%) to display high levels of knowledge.

Table 4 Knowledge of devolution, by significant demographic and attitudinal factors, 2005⁸

Note to Table: bases exclude those who did not give any answer for one or more items in the 'quiz'

21. These findings again highlight the challenge faced in increasing knowledge of the devolved institutions among those otherwise disinterested in and/or traditionally excluded from the democratic process. Those with low levels of interest in politics, including women and those living in more deprived areas of Scotland, all have relatively low levels of knowledge about devolution. We suggested in the introduction that a basic level of knowledge about the powers, responsibilities and institutions of devolved government in Scotland might be required in order for people to be able to engage with decision-making in Scotland in a more active way. If aspirations for government in Scotland to be accessible to all are to be realised, specific groups, including women and those in deprived areas, may need support and encouragement to develop this knowledge.

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