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March 18, 2005
Charlie Jeffrey's view
Charlie Jeffrey has an important article in The Scotsman comparing devolution in Scotland to that in Bavaria, Catalonia, Flanders and Lombardy.
He points out that debates in Scotland have lacked perspective.
“The debate about whether devolution is working or failing has almost always been self-referenced and insular… .it is part of a British disease: all the devolution reforms, in Scotland as elsewhere, have been rolled out without much attempt - as the jargon goes - to “benchmark” other places’ experience of devolved government and apply the insights here.”
” … the Scottish Parliament is powerful. The devolution settlement here is more generous than equivalent arrangements in Catalonia, Bavaria or Lombardy (though not Flanders). But all the opinion poll data so far suggests that, despite these powers, most people think the Parliament and the Executive have not made much difference. Is that right? Or is it a product of Scotland’s self-referenced way of looking at itself?”
“What about the economy? … there has been no big kick forward since devolution. Scotland has not yet summoned up the economic dynamism of Bavaria, Catalonia, Flanders or Lombardy… .[this] has to do, in part, with being on the periphery of European markets… Much of Scotland’s business does not see itself as especially Scottish and instead has a UK mindset, and looks to shape policies in London. Business in Flanders and the other regions is more “rooted”.”
“Political leaders in Bavaria, Catalonia, Flanders and Lombardy wear their regional identities on their sleeves, articulating policy priorities through a regional mindset. … But Scotland’s political leaders, both in government and opposition, have been more managerial in approach, focused more on effective delivery than on mobilising a sense of common project for Scotland.”
“That absence of vividness is one reason why devolution has bedded in so smoothly. Devolution processes in Belgium, Italy and Spain have been marked by tensions between central and devolved governments. Those tensions have not emerged here, or more precisely where there have been disagreements they have been dealt with behind closed doors …”
“Labour will lose somewhere, sometime and as soon as it does devolution’s main conflict management mechanism will be lost. There is not much of a ‘Plan B’ - unlike in Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain, where there are more formal processes for managing central-devolved differences.”
It is fascinating analysis. It would interesting to know how the SNP fit in with Professor Jeffrey’s scheme of things.
thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=292442005
Posted by Simon Holledge at March 18, 2005 01:38 PM
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Comments
Sadly, The writer of the article appears to be more comfortably content with the notion of devolution without considering or offering the reader the gesture that perhaps an autonomous Independent Scotland might be a more suitable alternative.
Niniane Mackenzie
Posted by: Niniane Mackenzie at March 18, 2005 08:07 PM