What chance of a more gender equal Scotland? Critical frame analysis of policy proposals in the IndyRef and beyond

A significant by-product of the Scottish Independence Referendum debate was the flourishing of proposals across a range of public policy domains. From the Scottish Government’s White Paper to the propositions of Common Weal, the formal parties and their various commissions, and the informal groups in between, taxation, welfare reform, childcare and social care, corporate representation among other policy areas featured in formal policy documents. Using CFA, this paper analyses the extent to which these policy proposals were framed as advancing women’s social, economic and political independence and the extent to which policy and political institutions demonstrated a failure to mainstream gender analysis in public policy formulation despite the political and discursive opportunities offered by structural change.