The process of making policy is central to the working of a political system. In a democracy, it converts the political demands of society into governmental actions. If this job is done properly, the political system will be stable, and its activities will be beneficial to the social system (or systems) as a whole.

The components of the Scottish political system have already been dealt with. They include those means which Scots have developed for articulating and aggregating their interests, such as the Scottish MPs, organised groups, and the media; those institutions which respond to such demands within the governmental structure, such as the Scottish Office; and those institutions which execute the decisions of government, or adjudicate disputes (i.e. the public service and the Scottish legal system). It is the thesis of this book that such activities constitute a Scottish political system, since the degree of interaction and interdependence of the components defines a boundary between the Scottish and English political systems, and that the range of activities which is involved makes it a relatively more important political system than those which could be analysed at (for example) the regional level in England or at the local (i.e. sub-state) level in countries such as the United States. It thus has feature of ‘macro-polities’, as well as ‘micro-polities’.

In analysing these components, some attempt has been made to describe how they work, and to illustrate their dynamic qualities within the system.