Comparing Scottish Devolution

PLIT10080

Comparing Scottish Devolution

Course Guide

Politics/IR Honours Option

2011-2012

Dr. Wilfried Swenden (convenor)

Dr. Nicola McEwen

Comparing Scottish Devolution

Welcome to Comparing Scottish Devolution

CSD is a Politics/IR Honors Option, convened by Dr. Wilfried Swenden and co-taught by Dr. Nicola McEwen. It builds on the course Scotland: Society and Politics (offered as an option to all second year Politics and IR students). It is recommended (but not required) that students who take the course attended Scotland: Society and Politics previously. Students who did not take Scotland: Society and Politics previously may be expected to do some preliminary readings on Scottish politics.

Course related enquiries should be addressed in the first instance to the course convenor, Dr Wilfried Swenden: Room 3.05 Chrystal Macmillan Building, tel: 0131 650 4255, Email: . Office hours: Mondays, 11.30-13.30. Where possible, students are encouraged to make use of these office hours. Meetings outside of office hours may be arranged by email.

Dr. Nicola McEwen can be reached at: Institute of Governance, 1.02, 21 George Square; Tel: 0131 651 1831; Email: . Office Hours (semester 1): Mondays, 10.00-12.00

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

· understand the meaning of different forms of territorial governance, especially devolution, federalism, multi-level governance, regionalism and nationalism

· critically appraise competing theoretical perspectives and empirical analyses on the development of regionalism and multi-level government in Scotland and other comparative cases

· place Scottish devolution in a comparative perspective, and draw comparisons and contrasts with devolution across the UK, and with other forms of territorial government in other multi-level and multi-national states

· Effectively apply the comparative method

· develop research, analytical and presentation skills, through guided research in preparation for assessment and tutorial presentations

Course Structure, Venue and Time

This course adopts a lecture-tutorial format. Lectures are on Monday, 10:00-10:50, in the Chrystal Macmillan Building, Seminar Room 1. Tutorials will held on Thursdays, 10:00-10:50 (Rm 2.05) and 11:10-12:00 (Rm 2.04) in the Appleton Tower). If course numbers merit an additional tutorial group, this will be held on Thursday 16.10-17.00 (Rm M1 Appleton Tower) Students will be asked to sign up for a tutorial group via the course Web-CT page in week 1. Tutorials will begin in week 2.

Tutorial Format

All students are expected to participate in tutorial discussions, and take part in group presentations. In the first tutorial (week 2), students will be divided in groups of 3-4 and will remain in these groups throughout the semester. Each group will lead two tutorial discussions, including delivering a 15 minute powerpoint presentation (see Annex 1). Tutorial participation will be assessed and count towards 15 percent of your final mark.

Course Material: Course Guide + Web-CT

The Course Guide is your first source of information: it provides a list of core, tutorial, and further readings. Most of the core or tutorial readings can be accessed as e-journals or e-publications. We will make some tutorial readings available on Web-CT. Book chapters or books can be found in the Library (the most important books are put on reserve). Lecture handouts will be made available on Web-CT on the day of the lecture.

Course Assessment

This course has three components of assessment:

One 2,500 word essay (50% of the mark)

One research briefing paper of not more than 1,500 words (35% of the mark).

Tutorial participation (15% of the mark)

DEADLINES:

Research briefing paper deadline:, Friday 3 November, 12:00

Essay deadline: Friday 2 December, 12:00

All coursework will be marked and returned to students within 3 working weeks of the submission date. Once marked, research briefing papers will be distributed in class or can be collected from the course convenor during office hours. Feedback will be provided for all assessed work. All marks are provisional until confirmed by the Exam Board in May 2011. Topics and guidance for the research briefing paper and the essay are listed in Annex 2 and 3 of this document.

Submitting your Essay or Research Briefing Paper

Instructions for students:

Research Briefing Papers and Essays must be submitted as hard copies AND electronically.

Submitting the hard copies

Students must deposit two hard copies of their essay or research briefing paper in the Politics and IR Honours Essay Box, located in the wall outside room 1.11, Chrystal Macmillan Building. When doing so, students must complete a Politics IR Honours coversheet (available outside room 1.11), indicating their examination number and tutor’s name, and signing a plagiarism form (see below).

Guidelines to Note

· Submit two copies of the essay

· Put only your Exam number on each copy of the essay.

· Complete ONE Essay Front Coversheet and be sure you complete the Plagiarism Statement at the bottom of it.

· Staple the first copy of the essay to the front cover sheet and paperclip the
second to both of them.

· Post the completed essays into the Politics essay box situated outside room 1.11, Chrystal Macmillan Building by 12pm on the day of deadline.

NOTE: All students should pay particular attention when completing the Plagiarism segment of the Essay Front Coversheet . If it is not completed correctly, coursework will not. be marked until the student returns to the office to complete/correct the section.

Electronic Submission

SUBMISSION OF COURSEWORK TO WEBCT

1) In addition to the two hard copies, you must, by the same deadline, submit an electronic version via WebCT. The instructions for doing so are as follows.

2) Before submitting your coursework, please ensure that you SAVE YOUR ESSAY WITH A FILE NAME THAT INCLUDES YOUR EXAM NUMBER. To ensure anonymity, do not include your name anywhere on the essay.

3) Do not submit your bibliography separately from the essay. Our internal checks make sure the bibliography will not count as ‘plagiarised’ material.

4) Failure to follow these instructions will cause delays in getting your work marked and returned to you.

FILE FORMAT

1) Files must be in Word (.doc), rich text (.rtf), text (.txt) or PDF format. Microsoft Publisher, Open Office and Microsoft Works files will not be accepted.

UPLOADING AND SUBMITTING YOUR ESSAY

1) At the Course Home Page click on the Assignments tab situated on the Course Tools bar at the left hand side of the page.

2) Click on the relevant essay title in the middle of the screen (It will be called ‘Course essay’ or such) and then either:

3) Click on Add Attachment and locate your essay on your computer and attach it. Or you can copy and paste your essay into the window provided.

4) Click on Submit to finish.

LATE SUBMISSION

Penalties for late submission are set by College, and are as follows:

· Five marks per working day (i.e. excluding weekends) for up to 5 days;

· Coursework handed in more than 5 days late will receive a mark of zero

· PLEASE NOTE that failure to submit an electronic version along with the hard copy of your coursework will be treated as failure to submit, and subject to the same lateness penalties set out above.

Students who feel they have a legitimate reason for late submission of assessed work must apply for a lateness penalty waiver. For guidance on policy and procedure regarding work submitted after the deadline, please see the Politics and Internationals Relations Honours Handbooks: http://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/undergrad/honours/subjects_and_ centres/politics. The School looks sympathetically on students with a legitimate reason for late submission.

Please also consult the PIR Honours Handbooks for information on the extended marking scheme, plagiarism and freedom of information rules.

A Note on Plagiarism

Although discussion between students is encouraged, all coursework is accepted for assessment on the understanding that it is the student's own work. Copying out passages from books and articles without putting the passages in quotation marks must be avoided. All sources must be properly acknowledged. Copying will not be condoned: serious cases of plagiarism will normally lead to automatic failure of a course, and may also lead to action under the University's Code of Discipline. Please see the Politics and International Relations Honours Handbooks for further general information about assessment. University guidance is available at: http://www.aaps.ed.ac.uk/regulations/ plagiarism/intro.htm.

GENERAL READINGS:

There is no set textbook for this course, but students may find the following books or review essays helpful:

Bednar, J. (2011), ‘The Political Science of Federalism’, Annual Review of Law and Social Science [e-journal published on-line ahead of print, August 23, 2011]

Greer, S. (ed) (2006) Territory, Justice and Democracy: regionalism and federalism in western democracies (Palgrave: Macmillan)

Hueglin T.O. and Fenna, A (2006). Comparative Federalism. A Systematic Inquiry (Peterborough, Ontario, 2006). Very comprehensive, accessible and global approach to the subject.

Keating, M. (2001) Plurinational democracy: stateless nations in a post-sovereignty era (Oxford University Press) (e-book)

McGarvey, N and P Cairney (2008) Scottish Politics: an Introduction (Palgrave Macmillan).

Mitchell, J. (2008) Devolution in the United Kingdom (Manchester: Manchester University Press)

Swenden, W (2006) Federalism and Regionalism in Western Europe: a comparative and thematic analysis (Palgrave Macmillan)

Wibbels, E. (2006) 'Madison in Baghdad? Decentralization and Federalism in Comparative Politics', Annual Review of Political Science 9: 165-188. [e-journal]

Multiple-copies of all these books are available in the library.

JOURNALS

Journal articles are also a valuable source of good quality academic research. Many social science journals carry articles of relevance to this course, especially Regional & Federal Studies and Publius, the journal of federalism. Other journals which students may find useful to consult include: British Politics; Parliamentary Affairs; European Journal of Political Research; West European Politics; Government and Opposition, Scottish Affairs, Regional Studies and Nations and Nationalism. All of these are available as electronic journals via the Information Services website.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Week / Date / LECTURE (Monday) / TUTORIAL (Thursday)
1 / 19 Sept / Introduction: Scottish devolution in comparative perspective (WS) / NO TUTORIAL – tutorial sign-up via Web CT
2 / 26 Sept / Devolution, federalism and confederation: Scotland’s constitutional settlement in comparative perspective (WS) / Introduction & discussion: should the UK become a federal state? (NM)
3 / 3 Oct / Political parties in multi-level states (WS) / What is the best strategy for Scotland’s state-wide parties in dealing with multi-level politics? (WS)
4 / 10 Oct / Multi-level elections and voting behaviour (NM) / Are Scottish parliamentary elections second order? (NM)
5 / 17 Oct / Social Citizenship and the Territorial Politics of Welfare (NM) / Has devolution undermined British social citizenship?(NM)
6 / 24 Oct / The Politics of Territorial Finance (WS) / What should Scotland and the UK learn from fiscal federalism in other multi-level states? (WS)
Deadline for Research Briefing Paper, Friday 3 November noon
7 / 31 Oct /

Climate change politics and policy making in a multi-level context (NM)

/ Why has Scotland been promoted by the Scottish government as a leader in climate change mitigation?(NM)
8 / 7 Nov / Intergovernemntal Relations in multi-level states (WS) / Should IGR in the UK be more institutionalized? (WS)
9 / 14 Nov / Towards a Europe of the Regions? (NM) / Can Scotland play an influential role in the EU as a European region? (NM)
10 / 21 Nov /

Constitutional futures: does accommodating nationalism through devolution appease or further nationalist demands? (WS)

/ Is Scotland heading towards independence? Lessons from other nationalist movements (NM)
Essay deadline Friday 2 December 2011, 12 noon

Detailed Course programme

Monday 19 September 2011.

Lecture 1: Introduction: Scottish devolution in a comparative perspective (WS)

The lecture will provide an overview of course learning outcomes and administration, and clarify the key concepts at the centre of an analysis of Scottish devolution in comparative perspective. The lecture will also revisit the comparative method and provide guidance on how it is to be applied in this course.

Core Reading

Keating, M (2008), ‘Thirty Years of Territorial Politics’, West European Politics, vol. 31, no.1-2, 60-81.

Loughlin, J. (2000), ‘Regional Autonomy and State Paradigm Shifts in Western Europe’, Regional and Federal Studies vol.10, no.2

Jeffery, C. and Wincott, D. ‘Devolution in the United Kingdom. Statehood and Citizenship in Transition’, Publius: the Journal of Federalism, 36 (1), 19-35

Swenden, W. (2010), ‘Beyond UK Exceptionalism? Comparing Strategies for Territorial Management’ in Stolz, K. eds. (2010), Ten Years of Devolutuion in the United Kingdom. Snapshots at a Moving Target (Augsburg: Wißner Verlag), 13-36 [uploaded on web-CT]