In the light of the Scottish Government's commitment to the principles enshrined in the Christie Commission and developing approaches worldwide to public administration, this article considers the forces at work and the major arguments for suggesting the need for increased and enhanced participation by parents in educational decision-making and school governance by focusing on the early 1980s. This was another period when participative democracy and partnership between lay-persons and public officials was widely supported at a theoretical level but often met resistance on the ground. An analysis of the responses to the abortive School Council consultative exercise of 1984 conducted by the Scottish Education Department (SED) is offered. The period before the emergence of Michael Forsyth as Education Minister in the Scottish Office in Mrs. Thatcher's era as UK Prime Minister is reviewed. Forsyth's controversial proposals for the establishment of School Boards that caused such consternation among the educational establishment and parents have subsequently been replaced by Parent Councils.