Youth Participation and the Scottish Parliament

Résumé du livre

The Scottish Parliament which (re)convened in 1999 was designed to engender a new style ofpolitical practice. This?new politics? was intended to address perceived failures within the?Westminster approach? to policy?making and the?democratic deficit? believed to haveemerged during the 1980s in Scotland. Key to achieving this were four principles around whichthe Parliament?s operations were designed: power?sharing; accountability; accessibility andparticipation; and equal opportunities. Citing accessibility and participation as the?cornerstone? of their work, the Parliament?s institutional architects (the Consultative SteeringGroup) argued that devolution should deliver a participatory democracy, with proactive effortsto be made by the Parliament to involve groups traditionally excluded from the policy process. Due to the increasing prominence in recent years of discourse relating to young people?sdisillusionment with organised politics and the CSG?s recommendation that every effort shouldbe made to include them in the new Parliament?s work, this research examines the degree towhich greater accessibility to and participation in the Parliament?s work has been delivered forchildren and young people during the Parliament?s first two terms (1999?2007). Findings arebased upon a mixed?methodological case?study approach, involving an audit of theParliament's activity and qualitative input from MSPs, Parliament staff, representatives ofyouth charities / organisations / advocacy groups, and young people themselves. The thesis argues that progress has been more pronounced in relation to accessibility thanparticipation for younger people. The neoinstitutionalist theoretical framework suggests thatinsufficient rule specification in relation to the value of public participation and youngerpeople has resulted in the emergence of hybridised logics of appropriate behaviour, particularly among parliamentarians. The result is the persistence of attitudes and practiceswhich appear to reinforce aspects of Westminster practice and an adultist approach to youngpeople?s role in politics. Drawing upon recent developments in neoinstitutionalist theories ofreliable reproduction, institutional breakdown and gradual change, the thesis examines theinstitutional logic behind the failure to consolidate the Parliament?s founding vision.