What Do We Think of it So Far? Twenty-Five Years of Devolution

This article reviews twenty-five years of devolution in Scotland with regard to public opinion surveys conducted by the Scottish Centre for Social Research, and funded by Scottish Government. It shows that, despite changes in political party control of Scottish and of British governments, there is consistently higher support for the former over the latter in terms of public trust, capacity to listen, and having a say in how Scotland is governed. Furthermore, over the twenty-five period, credit is disproportionately allocated to Scottish government, and blame to Westminster government, despite the division of constitutional responsibilities between them, as well as the secondary legal status of Holyrood vis-à-vis Westminster. In that regard, Scottish institutions are arguably the beneficiary of powerful notions of ‘sovereignty’ deriving from a theoretical right to self-government even as Scotland remains constitutionally within the United Kingdom.