This chapter will address how devolution was introduced in Scotland. Scotland has long had strong identity politics and, despite the negative outcome of the 1979 devolution referendum for reformers, there remained ambitions for constitutional change in the 1980s and 1990s. Nevertheless, there were rival cases for independence and devolved self-government, sceptical views on the nature of devolution and outright opposition to it. Consequently, we need to start from the assumption that there was no ideal stable long-term framework for introducing constitutional change acceptable to everyone. Instead, we should understand how devolution was introduced mainly through the prism of power politics, and that actors each sought to achieve their aims as best they could. This chapter duly discusses political contestation over how proposals for devolution were arrived at and seen through into government.

The chapter is shaped by the framework of analysis outlined in Chapter 3. Accordingly, it discusses the nature of the territorial strain that Scotland posed for the UK, and the political resources behind territorial change. It discusses the validity of the proposition that, even in Scotland, such resources were actually weak relative to reformers’ aspirations. Throughout, the chapter then addresses the movement for territorial change in Scotland and explores the proposition that in the context of power politics and resource deficiencies it adopted constrained aims and incorporated an instrumentalist approach to achieve them. Equally, the chapter considers how the British Labour leadership politically managed the emergence of devolution proposals, and explores the idea that in the context of similar relative resource deficiencies it adopted a code focused on achieving indirect central control. Finally, the chapter considers the policy process by which devolution proposals were created, both in opposition and in government, and the extent to which it contributed to their perceived effectiveness and legitimacy, and whether Scottish devolution overall could be considered to be a successful reform.

To address these issues and theoretical questions, the chapter develops chronologically. Section one focuses on territorial politics and the political debate on the constitutional question in Scotland and at the UK centre in the 1980s. Section two then addresses the preparation of devolution policy in Scotland during the 1990s and the significance of the referendum on Scottish devolution held in September 1997.