Making Policy

Abstract

After a history alternating between assimilation and differentiation, Scotland has preserved its own legal system and distinct forms in local government and education, while the scope of administrative devolution has been expanded greatly. We have emphasised that in the absence of a written constitution, of any mechanism for preserving the terms of the Treaty of 1707 or of any restraints on the sovereignty of Parliament, the UK remains a unitary state, with no federal element. Yet a unitary state need not necessarily be a centralised one and even a unitary and centralised state need not be a uniform one. Studies of unitary states (e.g. Grémion, 1976) have shown that they can generate specific forms of local power, based on the ability of local elites to manipulate the mechanisms of central power. Rhodes (1981) has shown how, in the UK, the complexity of Government can generate power for individuals throughout the system. It is possible, then, that the institutions of Scottish Government, while constitutionally part of the unitary state, may be capable of bending public policies in significant ways in response to distinctly Scottish pressures. A unitary Cabinet could permit differentiated policies for different parts of the state; Scottish pressures could influence the overall content of UK policy; and policy in Scotland could be more or less subtly altered in the course of implementation.