Democracy in Scotland

Democracy in Scotland Synopsis

The book analyses post-devolution Scotland’s democratic quality using a framework that conceptualises democracy in terms of its levels of freedom, equality and control, with special attention paid to the distinction between maximalist and minimalist conceptualisations of equality. Drawing on a range of sources, including archival documents, official reports, survey data, and interviews with politicians, civil servants and ‘democracy sector’ activists, Democracy in Scotland examines the effectiveness of institutional engineering and whether people expect too much from democracy. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of British Politics, Scottish Politics and other small nations, democracy, decentralisation, and more broadly to comparative politics.