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As an early - pre-June 7th - reader of Peter Lynch's new text book of
Scottish Politics, it was the reference in the introductory chapter to
"the first Blair administration" that initially brought home the nature
of his achievement. Barring major upsets this phrase will not jar very
shortly, but it does highlight the challenge that Lynch set himself: to
capture a tumultuous, continuing, process of political change in readable
and educative form, while at the same time building in a reasonably durable
shelf-life. In large part I think he has achieved the task, and many students,
and indeed devolution ingénues more generally, will be grateful for it.
The most pleasing thing about the general approach to the book was the
explicit acknowledgement that a political system is about more than institutions
and formal systems. Of course the great aspiration for our new Scotland
is to bring politics closer to the people, but nevertheless the temptation
often is to focus solely on the - still new - parliamentary systems and
institutional relationships. Lynch pays welcome attention to those of
us, on the outside of these formal systems, but still very much involved
in the new politics of Scotland.
The voluntary sector, trades unions, and other civic bodies, are all
dealt with, largely descriptively and through case studies, in a chapter
entitled 'Pressure Group Scotland'. This tag feels unsatisfactory, almost
belittling the role of the very wide array of organisations it apparently
encompasses, a discomfort the author perhaps shares, given the definitional
preamble to this chapter. He summarises the analyses of other political
writers of recent years, but recognises that Scottish devolution has brought
about new circumstances: "there have been few studies of pressure group
activity in Scotland devolution is likely to push the activities of a
large number of pressure groups into the public sphere, particularly given
the intention to facilitate pressure group involvement in policymaking";
and therefore a need for fresh study?
The role of the media is also highlighted, though the reader of this
chapter is left slightly muddled - perhaps reflecting the very ambivalent
nature of the Scottish Press and the UK-Scotland tensions of broadcast
it describes. There are useful 'potted histories' of the twists and turns
of Scottish newspapers' political allegiances, and an emphasis on the
important political role of the otherwise often overlooked local Press,
along with an illustrative case study of the Scottish Six debacle.
A clearer overall analytical framework, however, might have been helpful.
As you would expect, a sizeable portion of this text is an explanation
of the operations of the new Scottish Parliament, its committee system
and legislative process. This, however, is lifted by an almost 'story-telling'
approach, illustrating technical points with accessible accounts of political
events such as Mike Watson's resort to outside assistance in drafting
his anti-hunting bill in the face of a shortage of parliamentary staff,
or an SNP walk-out from the Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector
Committee pre-empting the first minority report from a committee.
Lynch also covers the key relationships with UK structures, via and despite
the Scottish Secretary and the UK Parliament, which are still such an
unsettled feature of our new political reality in Scotland. He concludes
that this is an area where there is still much uncertainty - "all of these
Westminster institutions have been in a post-devolution transition but,
with the exception of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee, their destination
is unknown" - and goes on to make the salutary point that "of course,
institutions that appear somewhat unnecessary now may appear necessary
in the future. The Secretary of State's role in checking Scottish Parliament
bills is politically redundant under the current Scottish Executive, but
would not remain so were an SNP administration running the Scottish Executive".
Similarly, questions are left hanging in the section on local government
- this too is seen as an unfinished story. The potential for substantial
reform of local government, including the fundamental political implications
of any changes to the electoral system, are rightly flagged up.
The European dimension to the new Scotland is also properly addressed
in his broad discussion of 'multi-level governance'. He points out that
inter-relationships between the different levels of governance are driven
through the government/executive route, effectively excluding the parliaments.
His conclusion that this is an area "in which open, accessible government
has fallen short" gives pause for thought.
The book often shows real insight into the 'real life' of Scottish government
and politics, focusing in the early section on the Executive, for instance,
on the dilemmas facing civil service personnel. For years protected from
the public gaze, and at the same time as facing major upheaval in their
place of work, career civil servants have been exposed to the scrutiny
of an eager parliament, press and civic society as never before. It is
in this rather gossipy context, but also more seriously because of their
organisational and changing role in policy development, that the rather
cursory treatment of the political parties (just a page or so each) was
a disappointment.
A unfortunate technical aspect of this otherwise quality publication
are the tables included to support the text. The problem is that in several
cases they do not - and it is not clear whether this is because they were
not always thought through or simply due to poor proof-reading.
Likewise, the structure of the book seemed to have little rationale -
dotting around from one theme to the next. Of course this latter is not
a critical problem, given that any text-book is read by way of 'dipping-in'
rather than from beginning to end. Maybe these are just symptoms of the
necessarily short production timescale?
Scottish Government and Politics - An Introduction is, as its
straightforward title would suggest, a comprehensive survey of the recent
and current Scottish political scene which is accessible, and in parts
genuinely entertaining. Not least because it is a book about ourselves;
in the same way as the familiar location of a dead body in an Ian Rankin
novel adds to the enjoyment of the story, the recognition factor plays
a great part. That in itself is telling - clearly the story Peter Lynch
has laid out in his book is a true reflection of the recent Scottish political
experience.
Scottish Affairs, No. 38, Winter 2002
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