Most effective way to govern Scotland Flashcards
Background info
The Scottish Parliament opened in 1999 and was given powers from the UK Parliament known as devolved powers. This means that the UK Parliament is responsible for decisions for reserved matters for the whole of the UK, but the Scottish Parliament and other devolved bodies such as the Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly are responsible for their own decisions on devolved matters. Whilst many people argue that devolution was been successful, many people argue that alternatives for the governance of Scotland should be considered.
List of factors
These alternatives are Muscular Unionism, Independence, Federalism and Devolution Max. This essay will discuss the advantages and limitations of devolution, independence, and federalism
Line of argument
To reach the conclusion that devolution does in fact not work well for Scotland to a large extent and that an alternative system of governance would be more effective
Point one
One view is that independence would be the most effective way to govern Scotland.
Point one explain
Some people argue that the current system of devolution means that there is a democratic deficit in how the UK is run and that Scotland is a nation trapped in an unequal union. The SNP in particular would argue that Scotland is being held back by the decisions that are made in Westminster and the nationalists point to similar European countries to highlight what they believe would demonstrate Scotland’s greater chance of success as an independent country. Supporters of independence would argue that all decisions in Scotland should be made for Scotland by the Scottish people and that Scotland needs all decision-making powers to have the future that Scotland wants.
Point one example
This can be evidenced by the fact that between 1950-2022 Scotland has picked the party that ruled the UK in only 9 out of 19 elections meaning that arguably the direction that Westminster has taken Scotland does not align with the values of the Scottish people. The 2017 EU referendum highlighted the discrepancy between political values with 62% of Scotland voting to remain in the European Union yet Scotland being forced to leave due to the weight of Westminster.
Point one analysis
This would suggest that rather than Scotland being an equal partner in the union, Scotland is dominated by the voice of England supporting the need for reform. Independence would allow for Scotland to follow the political will of its people such as rejoining the European Union.
Point two/rebuttal
However, whether independence would be beneficial for the governance of Scotland is widely contested.
Point two explain
This is because there is no guarantee of Scotland’s success as an independent country. There are many variables at play and many reports such as the Commission Growth Report that outlay what could be the expediential costs of setting up new governmental departments and systems and the possibility of high levels of debt meaning that the Scottish economy may fail without the support of the union. This may be one of the reasons why the Scottish electorate voted ‘no’ in the 2014 referendum.
Point two example
It can clearly be argued that there would be high costs associated with the implementation of an independent Scotland, whilst the SNP argue that in an independent Scotland an extra £200 million could be spent on nurses, teachers, police officers etc. the Growth Commission Report argues that independence in It can clearly be argued that there would be high costs associated with the implementation of an independent Scotland, whilst the SNP argue that in an independent Scotland an extra £200 million could be spent on nurses, teachers, police officers etc. the Growth Commission Report argues that independence in itself would cost approximately £450 million to set up, in addition, setting up defence in Scotland alone could cost anywhere between £1.6-2.5 billion.
Point two analysis
This shows that whilst Scotland may certainly benefit from being an independent country and would have the freedom to implement and shape legislation as they see fit, there are high financial risks involved which may see Scotland leave what is the currently the worlds 6th richest economy to becoming one crippled by financial deficits without the support of the union.
Point two link
Overall, it is clear to see why there are many different views about the most effective way to govern Scotland and that independence would arguably have many disadvantages for Scotland and its economy however, it is undeniable that Scotland, under devolution, does suffer from a democratic deficit and therefore independence may be a solution to this issue.
Point three
An alternative view would be that rather than independence, Scotland should retain the ‘status quo’.
Point three explain
This is predominantly the view of the Labour party who would argue that there is no real need to reform the governance of Scotland but rather focus on the restructuring of the current system such as abolishing the current House of Lords. This would mean that Scotland would have more power in the House of Lords, allowing them to have their opinion better represented without having to have independence and would also mean that England and Scotland are more equal as the powers would be “de-centralised”. Supporters of the status quo argue against independence as by working on reforming the current system, Scotland would have more equal powers without having to leave allowing citizens to live how they currently are with more equality.
Point three example
It can be clearly argued that there would be a lot of work needed in order to keep things how they are while keeping the majority of the Scottish and English population happy and allow people to be represented equally. For example, Scotland represent just 8% of the U.K population which means that England will continue to dominate the government with them represented around 85% of the U.K’s population.
Point three analysis
This means that by keeping things the U.K together and reforming the current system instead, it would allow Scotland’s voice to be uplifted in politics. However, England would still have dominance over politics and how the system is run which many would still feel as an injustice and would rather leave the U.K instead.
Point four/rebuttal
However, this does nothing to appease the demands for reformation of Scottish politics.
Point four explain
This is because it does nothing to alleviate the democratic deficit that many people in Scotland argue is evident. There have been many times in Scotland’s devolved history which this has been evidenced. This is because predominant parties in England such as the Conservative and the current ruling party labour think that Scotland is better as part of the U.K and many attempts for an independence referendum have been blocked by these parties as it would mean that the U.K’s economy would decrease and they would be a weaker country and their oil and weapons supply which Scotland hold would instead have to be moved and the rest of the U.K might not have any access to these supplies for a while which could be a problem if a situation arises in which they need them. It This is because it does nothing to alleviate the democratic deficit that many people in Scotland argue is evident. There have been many times in Scotland’s devolved history which this has been evidenced. This is because predominant parties in England such as the Conservative and the current ruling party labour think that Scotland is better as part of the U.K and many attempts for an independence referendum have been blocked by these parties as it would mean that the U.K’s economy would decrease and they would be a weaker country and their oil and weapons supply which Scotland hold would instead have to be moved and the rest of the U.K might not have any access to these supplies for a while which could be a problem if a situation arises in which they need them. It also means that England still have dominance over Scotland as they hold most of the control and can stop Scotland from trying to do what they feel is best for themselves.
Point four example
This is evidenced by recent interventions by Westminster into Scotland’s decision-making abilities. Westminster used a section 35 to block the Scottish Governments Gender Recognition Act as well as having previously blocked key elements of Scotland’s Bottle Return Scheme.
Point four analysis
This suggests that there is a clear democratic deficit as rather than Scotland being an equal power in the U.K, England still have more dominance over them as their politicians/parties are allowed to block bills which Scotland think would be beneficial to them, meaning that Scotland cannot do best for their citizens.
Point four link
Overall, it is clear to see why there are many different viewpoints about the most effective way in order to govern Scotland and that by not having an independent Scotland, it would allow the U.K to be a stronger power but it is clear to see that even with reformation of things such as the House of Lords, England would still have dominance over Scotland over how the U.K is ran and because of this, Scotland does suffer from a democratic deficit and therefore independence may be a solution to this issue.
Point five
A further alternative view would be the introduction of a federal model for Scotland and the UK.
Point five explain
Arguably this system is effective because it would allow Scotland and England to have a more equal power in the running of the U.K as power would be de-centralised from central government to regional governments. The federal government would be able to handle national matters such as defence, foreign affairs and the overall economic policy and it would also be responsible for ensuring that the constitution is upheld whilst resolving disputes between regional governments and their powers over areas such as health, law and education and would allow the constituents to be better represented as these powers would be tailored to their needs.
Both the federal and regional governments would have their own elected representatives and both the federal and regional governments would have the power to levy taxes. This structure aims to balance the benefits of a unified national government with the flexibility and responsiveness of regional governments. It would allow regions to address local issues more effectively while still being part of a larger, cohesive nation. However, many opponents point out that this would not resolve the issue in disparity of English voters and vs Scottish.
Point five example
This is illustrated through the fact that England would still be a bigger federal state compared to Scotland so would still have more powers over them and Scotland wouldn’t have any new powers. For example, even though the SNP promised a second Scottish Independence referendum, Kier Starmer blocked this idea back when he was first elected and out of the 779 members which the House of Lords have, only 59 members represent Scotland so federalism would help to close that gap.
