Paul Cairney
Governance, Centre on Constitutional Change
University of Stirling
Professor of Politics and Public Policy
Expertise
public policy
Posts by this author
Policymaking in an independent Scotland: profound change is possible but unlikely
In a new blog from the ebook ‘Scotland’s new choice: Independence after Brexit’, Paul Cairney reflects on policy-making in an independent Scotland, concluding that independence would likely be a remarkable event with an unremarkable impact on policy.
The 'Scottish approach' to Policymaking
In his chapter for the Oxford Handbook of Scottish Politics, Paul Cairney examines the alleged distinctiveness of Scottish policymaking. These comparisons tend to be with UK government, which ignores the opportunity for wider comparative assessment.
Why isn't government policy more preventative?
Paul Cairney and Emily St Denny, University of Stirling, evaluate the challenges and likely outcomes of preventative policy making in their blog for Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN). Can academic research solve the problems for preventative policy?
Scotland has its own political class...just like Westminster
It is commonplace in Britain to identify a “political class”, out of touch with the general population. It was promised that the Scottish Parliament would broaden recruitment of MSPs, becoming more representative to class, ethnicity, gender, education and former careers. But, Michael Keating, University of Aberdeen, and Paul Cairney, University of Stirling, argue that we have not seen such a divergence between MSPs and MPs.
The Scottish Parliament is essential to Scottish democracy, but what kind of democracy is it?
Professor Paul Cairney (University of Stirling) examines the effectiveness of policymaking by the Scottish Parliament since 1999.
The Impact of Multi-level Policymaking on the UK Energy System
Profs Paul Cairney, Nicola McEwen, Aileen McHarg, Karen Turner and David Wilson recently received a UKERC grant to research UK 'energy systems' in the context of multilevel policymaking. They explain that, just to start with, this will require defining many of the subjects of their research.