• Contact
  • About
  • Authors
DONATE TO BYLINES SCOTLAND
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
  • Login
Bylines Scotland
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Bylines Scotland Breaking News
    • Europe
    • King Charles III
    • Queen Elizabeth II
    • Scotland
    • War in Ukraine
    • World
    Scotland's Pro-EU

    Scotland’s leading pro-EU organisation will be in good spirits when it meets in Edinburgh on Rejoin Day 

    Front cover of Scottish Currency Q&A booklet

    Priorities for the SNP and the Scottish Government on currency

    Portrait of Humza Yousaf

    Humza Yousaf’s plans if he becomes the SNP leader

    Media distortion

    Truth and Trust

    Kate Forbes, candidate for the SNP membership, official portrait

    Kate Forbes campaign for the SNP leadership contest 

    Health service

    Funding the Scottish Health Service 

    Sunflower in watercolour for the one year anniversary of the war in Ukraine 2022

    Euromove Scotland Campaign Raises Donations for Ukraine’s Frontline Communities.

    Nicola Sturgeon portraiture

    Nicola Sturgeon and Jacinda Ardern – what two shock resignations tell us about good leadership

    BBC Scotland in dismantling letters

    The three minute read. Scotland must seek to reform its media

    Trending Tags

    • Democracy
    • Devolution
    • Brexit
    • Ukraine
  • Politics
    • All
    • Council Areas
    • Europe
    • Holyrood
    • Liz Truss
    • Rest of UK
    • Tories
    • United Kingdom
    • Westminster
    • World
    Kate Forbes, candidate for the SNP membership, official portrait

    Kate Forbes campaign for the SNP leadership contest 

    Ash Regan and Tim Rideout Currency launch

    Ash Regan backs Scottish currency

    blue background, A younf woman holding a large black sign that says VOTE ! in white letters

    Scottish elections: young people more likely to vote if they started at 16 – new study

    A scene of people demonstrating, holding Scotland flags. One man wears a tartan cap and holds a blue flag with both the Scottish cross and the EU stars on it.

    Is Alister Jack sane?

    Image Malcom Laverty

    The Brown plan

    The climate change impacts of Russia’s war with Ukraine

    Britain wastes £1bn on drones to monitor English Channel

    The Autumn Statement – time to take a closer look

    Photo Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

    Christmas cheer for Tesco if grim reading for the political classes

    Trending Tags

    • Equality
    • Johnson
    • Scottish National Party
  • Business
    • All
    • Agriculture
    • Aviation
    • Corporations
    • Energy
    • Finance
    • Fishing
    • Natural Resources
    • Shipbuilding
    • Trade
    • Transport
    • Workers
    Fish farm in Scotland

    A deeper dive into the history of Scottish fish farming

    Fish farms in a Scottish Loch

    How farmed salmon is produced – stage one

    Dead salmons

    Death in our waters

    Fish farming, Isle of Sky, Loch Ainort

    Fish Farming in Scotland 

    Offshore wind farm

    How will local communities get a fair share of record investment from offshore wind farms?

    Broadband optic fibres

    Scotland fulfilling its commitment to enable access to superfast broadband

    A row of tall houses on the left, with parked cars in front on the side of the street

    Saving Scotland’s tenements

    A large red researcgh vessel in the sea with ice sheets all around it on the water.

    Rosyth shipyard attracts UK Government contract to maintain fleet of scientific research vessels

    large posts saying 'Glasgow Airport Business Park' on the left and right of a road leading away from the main road in the front. . On that road leading away building with walls almost entirely existing of windows.

    Why doing business in Scotland may be better for your corporate wellbeing

    Trending Tags

    • Health
      • All
      • Assisted dying
      • Covid
      • Influenza
      • Polio virus
      • Respiratory
      • Scientific Research
      Tree representing lungs

      Where are the areas in Scotland most affected by lung conditions?

      Health service

      Funding the Scottish Health Service 

      A goose surrounded by avian flu

      Who is knocking our doors? A putative new pandemic?

      A woman walking in a field with a jerrycan of water on her back, spraying water on the vegetation

      The Ethiopia Medical Project

      Healthcare word seen in a scrabble

      “Leave no one behind” – the Health Foundation’s report into health inequalities in Scotland 2023.

      Sign saying NHS Greater Galsgow & Clyde in front of a hospital building

      Concern over patients waiting in corridors for free beds at Glasgow Superhospital

      A hospital corridor with trolleys on the sides.

      Glasgow hospitals halt non-urgent operations due to pressure

      Two more unions reject Scottish Government NHS pay offer

      GMB union reject Scottish Government pay offer to NHS staff

      Trending Tags

      • Environment
        • All
        • Air Pollution
        • Biology
        • Climate Change
        • Wildfires
        Ardnish wildfire by Leslie Barrie, CC BY-SA 2.0 Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons'

        Fire threats in the Scottish countryside

        Wood stove at the foot of the bed in the Danish Blue room at Pig Hill Inn, Cold Spring, New York. Printed with permission and confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

        When smoke gets in your eyes

        Opening of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 in Egypt. Photo courtesy of the UNFCCC

        COP27 and the inconvenient truth

        Viscum album in trees

        Night of the strangling figs: a biological horror story

        Out & about with Charlie Mac: Cycling to the heart of Scotland – the National Cycle Network 7

        Scotland's mountain footpaths

        How do we care for Scotland’s mountain footpath network?

        climate science

        PM to be chosen by people with little grasp of climate science

        Trending Tags

        • Opinion
        No Result
        View All Result
        • Home
        • News
          • All
          • Bylines Scotland Breaking News
          • Europe
          • King Charles III
          • Queen Elizabeth II
          • Scotland
          • War in Ukraine
          • World
          Scotland's Pro-EU

          Scotland’s leading pro-EU organisation will be in good spirits when it meets in Edinburgh on Rejoin Day 

          Front cover of Scottish Currency Q&A booklet

          Priorities for the SNP and the Scottish Government on currency

          Portrait of Humza Yousaf

          Humza Yousaf’s plans if he becomes the SNP leader

          Media distortion

          Truth and Trust

          Kate Forbes, candidate for the SNP membership, official portrait

          Kate Forbes campaign for the SNP leadership contest 

          Health service

          Funding the Scottish Health Service 

          Sunflower in watercolour for the one year anniversary of the war in Ukraine 2022

          Euromove Scotland Campaign Raises Donations for Ukraine’s Frontline Communities.

          Nicola Sturgeon portraiture

          Nicola Sturgeon and Jacinda Ardern – what two shock resignations tell us about good leadership

          BBC Scotland in dismantling letters

          The three minute read. Scotland must seek to reform its media

          Trending Tags

          • Democracy
          • Devolution
          • Brexit
          • Ukraine
        • Politics
          • All
          • Council Areas
          • Europe
          • Holyrood
          • Liz Truss
          • Rest of UK
          • Tories
          • United Kingdom
          • Westminster
          • World
          Kate Forbes, candidate for the SNP membership, official portrait

          Kate Forbes campaign for the SNP leadership contest 

          Ash Regan and Tim Rideout Currency launch

          Ash Regan backs Scottish currency

          blue background, A younf woman holding a large black sign that says VOTE ! in white letters

          Scottish elections: young people more likely to vote if they started at 16 – new study

          A scene of people demonstrating, holding Scotland flags. One man wears a tartan cap and holds a blue flag with both the Scottish cross and the EU stars on it.

          Is Alister Jack sane?

          Image Malcom Laverty

          The Brown plan

          The climate change impacts of Russia’s war with Ukraine

          Britain wastes £1bn on drones to monitor English Channel

          The Autumn Statement – time to take a closer look

          Photo Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

          Christmas cheer for Tesco if grim reading for the political classes

          Trending Tags

          • Equality
          • Johnson
          • Scottish National Party
        • Business
          • All
          • Agriculture
          • Aviation
          • Corporations
          • Energy
          • Finance
          • Fishing
          • Natural Resources
          • Shipbuilding
          • Trade
          • Transport
          • Workers
          Fish farm in Scotland

          A deeper dive into the history of Scottish fish farming

          Fish farms in a Scottish Loch

          How farmed salmon is produced – stage one

          Dead salmons

          Death in our waters

          Fish farming, Isle of Sky, Loch Ainort

          Fish Farming in Scotland 

          Offshore wind farm

          How will local communities get a fair share of record investment from offshore wind farms?

          Broadband optic fibres

          Scotland fulfilling its commitment to enable access to superfast broadband

          A row of tall houses on the left, with parked cars in front on the side of the street

          Saving Scotland’s tenements

          A large red researcgh vessel in the sea with ice sheets all around it on the water.

          Rosyth shipyard attracts UK Government contract to maintain fleet of scientific research vessels

          large posts saying 'Glasgow Airport Business Park' on the left and right of a road leading away from the main road in the front. . On that road leading away building with walls almost entirely existing of windows.

          Why doing business in Scotland may be better for your corporate wellbeing

          Trending Tags

          • Health
            • All
            • Assisted dying
            • Covid
            • Influenza
            • Polio virus
            • Respiratory
            • Scientific Research
            Tree representing lungs

            Where are the areas in Scotland most affected by lung conditions?

            Health service

            Funding the Scottish Health Service 

            A goose surrounded by avian flu

            Who is knocking our doors? A putative new pandemic?

            A woman walking in a field with a jerrycan of water on her back, spraying water on the vegetation

            The Ethiopia Medical Project

            Healthcare word seen in a scrabble

            “Leave no one behind” – the Health Foundation’s report into health inequalities in Scotland 2023.

            Sign saying NHS Greater Galsgow & Clyde in front of a hospital building

            Concern over patients waiting in corridors for free beds at Glasgow Superhospital

            A hospital corridor with trolleys on the sides.

            Glasgow hospitals halt non-urgent operations due to pressure

            Two more unions reject Scottish Government NHS pay offer

            GMB union reject Scottish Government pay offer to NHS staff

            Trending Tags

            • Environment
              • All
              • Air Pollution
              • Biology
              • Climate Change
              • Wildfires
              Ardnish wildfire by Leslie Barrie, CC BY-SA 2.0 Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons'

              Fire threats in the Scottish countryside

              Wood stove at the foot of the bed in the Danish Blue room at Pig Hill Inn, Cold Spring, New York. Printed with permission and confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

              When smoke gets in your eyes

              Opening of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 in Egypt. Photo courtesy of the UNFCCC

              COP27 and the inconvenient truth

              Viscum album in trees

              Night of the strangling figs: a biological horror story

              Out & about with Charlie Mac: Cycling to the heart of Scotland – the National Cycle Network 7

              Scotland's mountain footpaths

              How do we care for Scotland’s mountain footpath network?

              climate science

              PM to be chosen by people with little grasp of climate science

              Trending Tags

              • Opinion
              No Result
              View All Result
              Bylines Scotland
              No Result
              View All Result
              Home Democracy

              The state of Scottish democracy is evaluated

              The Electoral Reform Society has begun a new annual lecture series – “The State of Scottish Democracy”. Byline Scotland attended the inaugural lecture, reflecting on the 25 years since the devolution legislation was presented to Parliament at Westminster

              Paul BassettGordon ReynoldsbyPaul BassettandGordon Reynolds
              20-11-2022 07:00
              in Democracy, Scotland
              Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

              It has been 25 years since the devolution legislation was presented to the Westminster parliament. Next Wednesday, 23 November, the UK Supreme Court is due to announce its decision on the Independence referendum case brought by the Scottish government.

              The ruling is bound to excite a strong reaction from all sides of the debate. So, before we are all consumed – again – by the perpetual stalemate between ‘Yes’ and ‘No’, it was truly refreshing to hear a more nuanced voice aiming to broaden the debate beyond the issue of our country’s constitutional status.

              Professor James Mitchell of the University of Edinburgh gave the inaugural State of Scottish Democracy lecture at Govan’s Pearce Institute. Professor Mitchell is a leading expert on the constitution and Holyrood, and he used the opportunity provided by the Electoral Reform Society to give his assessment of the health of democracy in Scotland today.

              James Mitchell, Professor of Public Policy at the University of Edinburgh. Photograph by Paul Bassett (CC BY-SA 4.0) printed with permission

              A font of quotes

              Mitchell’s font of quotes started with these:

              “Power is the ability for you and your community to stop bad things happening to you and your community, and to help good things to happen.”

              “So much advice comes from those who would profit from it.”

              He then considered whether democracy is in crisis, and if all is well with Scottish democracy, and argued for a more nuanced debate, after he noted great advances, while also identifying where progress has been limited, and indeed where Scotland’s democracy has gone backwards.

              First, Mitchell considered the global rise in anti-democracy, such as Trump, Erdogan, and Modi, a rise that often leads the commentariat to claim that perhaps the electorate cannot be trusted. In Scotland specifically, he noted that the adversarial nature of our politics often leads both sides to accuse the other of being anti-democratic.

              Mitchell was keen to emphasise that crises mean opportunities – or at least can provide the political system with stark choices.

              He led the audience through the events of more than 25 years – from the Thatcher & Major period where Conservative vote share in Scotland dropped to 17·5%, and there was a complete electoral wipe-out, with Scottish Question Time restricted to once a month at Westminster, and very little accountability for the £7bn of Quango spending in Scotland (£13.5bn in today’s money).

              James Mitchell, Professor of Public Policy at the University of Edinburgh (left), with Willie Sullivan, Senior Director of the Electoral Reform Society Scotland. Photograph by Paul Bassett (CC BY-SA 4.0) printed with permission

              “Not an end: a means to greater ends.”

              He drew the audience’s attention to the high quality of the debates held during the Scottish Constitutional Convention, and to Donald Dewar’s advice, that the Scottish Parliament was “Not an end: a means to greater ends.”

              He voiced his worry about the “underlying infrastructure of democracy”, especially the party system, the rules concerning campaign finance that shape it and the way this can facilitate a succession of the wealthiest, quoting Stein Rokkan: “Votes count, but resources decide the outcome in the end.”

              Most of all, he hoped that local and central government could be made to work better together, and that power at Holyrood can be made to flow to the Parliament and not the Government. One specific wish is that Parliament’s resources to oversee and scrutinise would increase as the devolved powers increase, allowing scrutiny to keep pace with events.

              Most of all, he wished that political opponents would find a way to return to disagree without being disagreeable.

              He finished by saying that we need constant vigilant audits of our democracy, and periodic broader overviews. And we need to keep these issues – almost the meta of democracy – alive.

              There was a wide-ranging audience discussion at the end, covering the subjects from community councils to the lack of debates at political party conferences.

              The Electoral Reform Society was set up in Victorian times, to lobby for elections to use the Single Transferable Vote system. Now, it is a campaigning organisation with 5,000 members, and looks at a wider spread of methods of helping people express their democratic voice, such as citizens’ assemblies.

              This new annual lecture series, and their upcoming programme of events starting in the new year, the society’s Scottish branch look certain to keep these as live topics of debate.


              We need your help! The press in our country is dominated by billionaire-owned media, many offshore and avoiding paying tax. We are a citizen journalism publication but still have significant costs. If you believe in what we do, please consider subscribing to the Bylines Gazette 🙏

              Tags: DemocracyDevolutionelectoral reformScotland
              Previous Post

              Currency in an independent Scotland – just the facts

              Next Post

              The pulse of the NHS – The paramedic

              Paul Bassett

              Paul Bassett

              Paul Bassett is a Glasgow writer and author of STAGE LEFT: a blog about love, theatre and ideas.

              Gordon Reynolds

              Gordon Reynolds

              Gordon has worked in construction, energy, finance and project management consultancy. He currently lives a short walk from Edinburgh Castle, with his wife and young adult children. He is often to be found attempting to hold back the tides of online misinformation on Twitter. He is proudest of being Darth Vader's pupil's pupil and teaching over 5,000 people to sword fight.

              Related Posts

              Scotland's Pro-EU
              Brexit

              Scotland’s leading pro-EU organisation will be in good spirits when it meets in Edinburgh on Rejoin Day 

              byMartin Roche
              20 March 2023
              Front cover of Scottish Currency Q&A booklet
              Economy

              Priorities for the SNP and the Scottish Government on currency

              byCathryn Jones
              17 March 2023
              Portrait of Humza Yousaf
              Holyrood

              Humza Yousaf’s plans if he becomes the SNP leader

              byBylines Scotland
              13 March 2023
              Media distortion
              Media

              Truth and Trust

              byPeter Cook
              7 March 2023
              Kate Forbes, candidate for the SNP membership, official portrait
              Holyrood

              Kate Forbes campaign for the SNP leadership contest 

              byBylines Scotland
              6 March 2023
              Next Post

              The pulse of the NHS – The paramedic

              PLEASE SUPPORT OUR CROWDFUNDER

              Subscribe to our newsletters
              CHOOSE YOUR NEWS
              Follow us on social media
              CHOOSE YOUR PLATFORMS
              Download our app
              ALL OF BYLINES IN ONE PLACE
              Subscribe to our gazette
              CONTRIBUTE TO OUR SUSTAINABILITY
              Make a monthly or one-off donation
              DONATE NOW
              Help us with our hosting costs
              SIGN UP TO SITEGROUND
              We are always looking for citizen journalists
              WRITE FOR US
              Volunteer as an editor, in a technical role, or on social media
              VOLUNTEER FOR US
              Something else?
              GET IN TOUCH
              Previous
              Next

              LATEST

              Scottish flag with SYP (Scottish Youth Parliament)

              Scottish Youth Parliament in 2023: Facing the Future

              22 March 2023
              Tree representing lungs

              Where are the areas in Scotland most affected by lung conditions?

              21 March 2023
              Scotland's Pro-EU

              Scotland’s leading pro-EU organisation will be in good spirits when it meets in Edinburgh on Rejoin Day 

              20 March 2023
              Illustration for Arts and Entertainment

              Scottish Opera’s sensational new Puccini production has it all – love, death and laughter

              18 March 2023

              MOST READ

              Tree representing lungs

              Where are the areas in Scotland most affected by lung conditions?

              21 March 2023
              Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaking at 2022 special meeting of the North Atlantic Council and G7 leaders meeting at NATO Headquarters in Brussels during the Ukraine situation. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street. Licensed under the United Kingdom Open Government Licence v3.0

              Boris Johnson; Britain’s worst ever prime minister?

              6 September 2022
              Scottish flag with SYP (Scottish Youth Parliament)

              Scottish Youth Parliament in 2023: Facing the Future

              22 March 2023
              large posts saying 'Glasgow Airport Business Park' on the left and right of a road leading away from the main road in the front. . On that road leading away building with walls almost entirely existing of windows.

              Why doing business in Scotland may be better for your corporate wellbeing

              14 January 2023

              BROWSE BY TAGS

              Brexit Christmas ClimateChange Covid Covid19 Culture Defence Democracy Devolution FishFarms Glasgow Halloween health History Holyrood independence IndyRef2 Johnson Journalism Liz Truss Long Covid Monarchy nationalism NATO NHS Nicola Sturgeon politics Poverty Pro-EU Public Health Putin Russia Sars-CoV-2 Scotland Security Security and Defence shipbuilding SNP Sunak Tories Tourism Twitter Ukraine UK Supreme Court War in Ukraine
              Bylines Scotland

              We are a not-for-profit citizen journalism publication. Our aim is to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in Scotland and beyond.

              Bylines Scotland is a trading brand of Bylines Network Limited, which is a sister organisation to Byline Times.

              Learn more about us

              No Result
              View All Result
              • Network
              • About
              • Authors
              • Contact
              • Donate
              • Privacy

              © 2023 Bylines Scotland. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

              No Result
              View All Result
              • Home
              • News
                • Scotland
                • World
              • Politics
                • Council Areas
                • Europe
                • Holyrood
                • Rest of UK
                • Westminster
              • Business
                • Fishing
                • Trade
                • Transport
              • Health
              • Environment
                • Climate Change
              • Opinion
              • Donate
              CROWDFUNDER

              © 2023 Bylines Scotland. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

              Welcome Back!

              Login to your account below

              Forgotten Password?

              Retrieve your password

              Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

              Log In