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Scotland Year Zero - from words to action. Douglas Chalmers Glasgow Caledonian University. Old ideas in a modern context. The Distinctiveness of a national community is worth defending for its own sake Rulers exist to serve the community - and not the reverse.
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Scotland Year Zero - from words to action Douglas Chalmers Glasgow Caledonian University
Old ideas in a modern context • The Distinctiveness of a national community is worth defending for its own sake • Rulers exist to serve the community - and not the reverse
Modern ideas for a modern world • 1998 Scotland Act • A package of measures • Implications for continuing development and change
Milestones in a long term project • From 1707 to 1967 • Overcoming indifference • Forcing the issue on to the agenda • The Kilbrandon Report • The missing measures of 1974 • Partial steps and inadequate approaches • Democracy and the dead
New Times - new approaches • The Political and social effect of Thatcherism • The Campaign for a Scottish Assembly • Building on a broad tradition • From Claiming our rights to a Claim of Right
The case for a Constitutional Convention • Prominent names for a prominent issue • Identifying the process to set change in motion • Identifying with the past to take Scotland forward
Sovereign rights, actions and deliberations • A democratic not an ethnic issue • Overcoming the democratic deficit • Electoral Reform - from FPTP to AMS • Gender Equality - From 50:50 to 38percent • A parliament fit for humans
Voting not to vote • Learning to trust and working by consensus • Winning support for the scheme on home ground • Getting the commitment and bringing old adversaries back on board
1997 Elections and referenda • Surprise questions and surprise results • Opening up the debate - consulting the people • From blueprint to standing orders • To retain or to transfer
The balance sheetso far • Positive aspects • Keeping the executive in check • Living with coalitions • Unresolved tensions for the future • Scotland in Westminster • Finance • The nature of ‘Britishness’
Unfinished Business • Extending democracy locally • Taking Civil Society seriously • Dealing with the unelected state • Future Prospects?