The Role of Central Units in the Scottish Executive

The Scottish Executive, building on the legacy of the Scottish Office, has sought to sustain powerful central units and resist monolithic departments serving its ministers. This has lessons for Whitehall's attempts at joined-up government. But in Scotland the political focus of the Executive has not yet matched its organizational potential, with renewed transitional instability as a new First Minister, Henry McLeish MSP, replaced the late Donald Dewar in October 2000.