The Impact of Electoral Outcomes on Public Participation in Policy-Making

The Scottish Parliament was founded in 1999 with an expectation that it would adopt a more participatory and inclusive approach to policy-making, and that it would engage with members of communities that traditionally have had little access to the formal policy process. This paper draws upon previous work by the author – and an updated audit of the public engagement work of the parliament’s influential committee system – to consider the extent to which the Scottish Parliament has sought to move beyond the traditional model of merely consultative policy-making. It also aims to explore zero-sum assumptions about power between the executive and legislature by considering the impact of differing governance conditions (majority coalition 1999-2003/2004-2007, minority government 2007-2011, and single-party majority 2011-present) upon the extent to which committees have been able to create space for public participation activities in their work.