Expectations, Assumptions and Realities: Scottish Local Government Post-Devolution

• Published in: British journal of politics & international relations Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 153 - 174
• Main Author: McGarvey, Neil
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.02.2012; SAGE Publications
• Subjects: Attitudes; central-local; Central-local government relations; Devolution; England; Expectation; Expectations; Governance; Intergovernmental relations; Local Government; Local politics; Minority Governments; Political science; Political systems; Scotland; United Kingdom; Welfare State; Scotland; Scotland; central–local; devolution; local government
• ISSN: 1369-1481; 1467-856X
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-856X.2011.00464.x

This article reviews developments in Scottish local government post-devolution. In doing so it outlines some expectations, assumptions and realities about local government in Scotland. Three assumptions are examined and rejected: 1999 was ‘Year Zero’ for Scottish local government; central–local relations are characterised by a cohesive centre versus a cohesive locality; central–local relations in Scotland are nothing more than a fuzzy microcosm of central–local relations in England. The article argues that Scotland increasingly offers a different ‘story’ of central–local government relations with pre-existing differences accentuating in the context of minority government, different processes of governance and attitudes to the welfare state.