The Scottish Policy Style: Can it Produce Better Policy and More ‘Joined-Up Government’?

The ‘Scottish policy style’ refers to the way in which it makes and implements policy. Compared to the ‘British policy style’, we can identify greater potential for senior policymakers to form personal networks with interest groups and pursue a less top-down approach to policy implementation. Yet, the public policy literature warns us against equating potential with actual policymaking and outcomes. Policymakers in Scotland and the UK are subject to the same ‘universal’ processes (including limited knowledge, attention and coordinative capacity) and their styles are often similar in practice. So, whether or not the Scottish Government gathers better information or manages to ‘join up’ government through networks is an empirical question. We examine this process using two case studies: ‘prevention’ policy, which is relatively high on the Scottish Government agenda; and ‘transition’ policy relating to child and adult services for cerebral palsy, which is relatively low.