A written constitution. We will create a radically democratic written constitution, produced by the Scottish people in a citizen-led process. This is compatible with Scotland’s place in the UK, but after more than 15 years of devolution, Scotland’s democracy still does not have a founding document beyond the Scotland Acts. With the new Scotland Act effectively guaranteeing the permanence of the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Greens believe now is the time to complete the embedding of our democracy by creating a people’s constitution that will be the basis of a democratic renaissance in all areas of Scottish public life. A constitution that protects rights for marginal groups will also drive equality in Scotland.
Strengthening local democracy. Scotland can revive local democracy by devolving more powers to local councils and requiring them to include local communities in decision making. Scottish Greens agree with Cosla, the body representing local authorities, that local government needs substantial and far-reaching reform to make it more local and more democratic. We will start this process by calling for a Local Democracy Act that will require local authorities to create local democracy and public participation plans to devolve decisions and budgets to a more local level and will give councils the powers to implement new structures for local democratic participation.
People’s Parliament. Scotland can finally fulfil the promise of Holyrood when it was set up by creating a more accessible ‘People’s Parliament’ that has more of the powers it needs to serve the Scottish public. The Scottish Parliament was supposed to embody a new way of doing politics, but has lost its way on this over years. Scottish Greens will champion new ways for the public to become involved in the legislative process, including through radical democratic processes like citizens’ juries.
