ABSTRACT
This chapter explains that between the 1970s and the present day, Scotland undertook a democratic journey. In the late twentieth century, demands for greater autonomy or independence saw the rise of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from little more than a pressure group to a party that had several elected Members of Parliament (MPs). In 1979 a referendum on decentralisation called devolution in British terminology resulted in what was effectively a No vote, though support for greater autonomy remained and grew during the 1980s and 1990s. This era of Conservative government at Westminster saw an increase in Scottish alienation from the centre, with opposition to prime minister Margaret Thatcher's policies and her approach to governing Scotland leading to a significant decline in Scottish support for the Conservatives. Enhancing the quality of Scottish democracy appeared to be a significant aspiration for those who devised the blueprint for devolution in the 1990s.
