Scottish Parliament

JIM JOHNSTON has been working at the Scottish Parliament since March 1999, and is currently Clerk to the Finance Committee. He has also been clerk to a number of other committees. He was seconded to the House of Lords EU Select Committee in 2008-9. He holds a BA (Hons) in English and Politics from the University of Strathclyde and PhD in Political Science from the University of Birmingham. His research focused on the economic policies of post-war Labour governments. His publications include a co-authored book on post-war British politics.JAMES MITCHELL holds a chair in Politics at Strathclyde Uni-versity and is a Member of the Hansard Society Scotland Working Group. He was an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Constitution Unit, University College, London, 2001-6. He was an adviser to the Committee of the Centre, Northern Ireland Assembly, 2001-2. He was a member of Advisory Committee on Policy Making, advising the Office of First and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM), Northern Ireland Executive, late 2000-spring 2001. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Parliamentary Affairs. He is also a member of the British Study of Parliament Group.

• Acknowledgements 7Open the Doors! EDWIN MORGAN 8Foreword: KEN MACINTOSH MSP 11Introduction: JIM JOHNSTON AND JAMES MITCHELL 13 1 Doing Right by the Common WealBERNARD PONSONBY 23Dear Scottish Parliament... Alicja Hertmanowska 322 A Building Which is More Than a BuildingGILLIAN BAXENDINE 33Dear Scottish Parliament... 433 A Tale of Two ParliamentsLEE BRIDGES 444 The MSP’s RoleALAN CONVERY AND DAVID PARKER 54Dear Scottish Parliament... Claire Hossack 645 Parliament and Business: An Unfulfilled Relationship?MICHAEL CROW 65Dear Scottish Parliament... Dionne Hossack 766 People-Powered PoliticsFIONA DUNCAN 777 Local Government and the Scottish Parliament: Parity of Esteem?ALISON EVISON 89Dear Scottish Parliament... Ellie Gauld 998 Scrutiny and TransparencyCAROLINE GARDNER 101Dear Scottish Parliament... Emma Cook 1129 Raising TaxesCHARLOTTE BARBOUR AND MORIA KELLY 11310 Twenty Years of Devolution: Small Steps Towards Equality, But We Need Big Leaps TALAT YAQOOB 127Dear Scottish Parliament... Etieno Essien 13611 Some Questions on Sovereignty and Free SpeechCHARLES ROBERT 137Dear Scottish Parliament... Ewan Carmichael 14912 A New Voice in the LandJIM WALLACE 150Dear Scottish Parliament... Hope Teal 16013 The Role of LawCHRISTINE O'NEILL 16114 The Scottish Economy: Fiscal Challenges and OpportunitiesGRAEME ROY AND DAVID EISER 170Dear Scottish Parliament... Quinn Muirhead 18015 Principles and Practices of the Good Parliament: Babyleave, Institutional Resistance and ChangeSARAH CHILDS 181Dear Scottish Parliament... Robyn Gibson 19016 Look, Listen: This is Who We AreJAMES ROBERTSON 191Conclusion: The Scottish Parliament in a Changing WorldJIM JOHNSTON AND JAMES MITCHELL 201 Appendix: A User’s Guide to the Scottish ParliamentELIZABETH CANTLIE AND ANDREW AITON 210Contributor Biographies 219