The Scottish Question
... Кожна з периферійних кельтських націй має свою історію відносин з англійським центром: Уельс був анексований Англією на початку шістнадцятого століття, Шотландія добровільно приєдналася до союзу з Англією в 1707 році, а Ірландія була включена до британської держави в 1801 році. Політика асиміляції в Шотландії проводилася, але союз між Англією та Шотландією часто описують як «об'єднуючий союз», політичне партнерство, яке дозволило Шотландії зберегти свою культурну самобутність [14]. Певна форма інституційної незалежності була надана Ірландії після унії, але досить обмежено та супроводжувалася дискримінаційною політикою британського уряду щодо домінуючого ірландського католицького населення. ...
... Однак, відповідно до викладеної вище позиції юніоністів, підтримка самоврядування серед політичної еліти була пом'якшена твердженнями про те, що передача повноважень послабить парламентський суверенітет і підірве верховенство законодавчої влади Вестмінстерського парламенту, заохотить подальші претензії на автономію та призведе до розпаду держави. Початок Першої світової війни, збройне повстання в Ірландії та подальше створення Ірландської держави випередили дебати у Великій Британії щодо переваг децентралізації влади, але дискусії щодо створення регіональних законодавчих органів у Шотландії та Уельсі тривали протягом ХХ століття [14]. Перемоги на виборах, досягнуті шотландською та валлійською націоналістичними партіями -Шотландською національною партією і Партією Уєльсу -змусили включити це питання до порядку денного протягом 1960-70-х років і завершилися референдумом 1979 року щодо створення власних законодавчих органів. ...
... Furthermore, what is undeniable is that, despite the Union, Scotland's sense of self, its sense of identity, has always remained. Such a sense of identity, and perceptions about what being Scottish meant and how strong it was may well have fluctuated throughout the last three hundred plus years (Mitchell 2014), but they have always been present. Mitchell (2014) in a discussion on the efficacy of national identity, highlighted 'the daily plebiscite' -the idea that the existence of a nation cannot be taken for granted. ...
... Such a sense of identity, and perceptions about what being Scottish meant and how strong it was may well have fluctuated throughout the last three hundred plus years (Mitchell 2014), but they have always been present. Mitchell (2014) in a discussion on the efficacy of national identity, highlighted 'the daily plebiscite' -the idea that the existence of a nation cannot be taken for granted. This concept, presented by Ernest Renan in 1882, is predicated around the constant renewal of the nation in daily life, as the nation seeks to sustain itself and continue its existence. ...
This paper considers the use of myths and symbols, and the culture and values that underpin contemporary Scottish Identity. Symbols and myths play very important role in contemporary Scottish national identity, and many have a centuries- old tradition and are clearly associated with Scottishness, while others, created much later, are an important element of national belonging for Scots. Interestingly, some of these symbols and myths are so prominent and expressive that they are associated with Scottishness around the world. Others, on the other hand, are less recognisable worldwide, but have significant efficacy in Scotland. The importance of symbols that underpin, define and re-enforce Scottish national identity cannot be understated. They are evidence of pride in being Scottish and of belonging to the Scottish nation. Symbols and myths enable Scots, both old and new to express their national belonging. Furthermore, they provide an important element of national cohesion and a sense of national identity in turbulent times. We consider the issue of the song, dress, land and flag of the nation, and how they contribute to a sense of Scottishness at home (and abroad) today.
... The idea that in Scotland sovereignty lies with the people and is distinct from the 'English' doctrine of Westminster parliamentary sovereignty has long been part of nationalist mythology (Jackson, 2020;Mitchell, 2014). It comes to the fore, in particular when political choices across the UK as a whole are out of step with majority preferences within Scotland. ...
... Although this was its clearest expression, a 'diffusionist' tendency (Jackson, 2020, p. 145) that conceived of independence as being embedded within transnational frameworks of Empire, Commonwealth or Europe had been evident for most of the SNP's history, albeit periodically generating internal debates (Finlay, 1992;McEwen & Brown Swan, 2021). The embrace of EU membership was also in response to developments in European integration, its increasing importance to Scottish local government and regional development, and, in a case of warming to 'my enemy's enemy', to counter the increasing Euroscepticism of the Conservative government (Mitchell, 2014). The EU provided an external economic and political framework that diminished the risks associated with independence, as well as providing opportunities for what would be a small state to pool its sovereignty with others and thereby enhance its influence internationally. ...
This article examines the contrasting norms of sovereignty that underpin the political discourse and policy choices of the UK and Scottish governments in the context of Brexit. Using the lens of contested sovereignty, it explores the meanings attached to sovereignty in both the Brexit process and the response to it within Scotland. It then considers the implications of these contested sovereignties for Scottish self-government, in the context of both devolution and independence. That analysis distinguishes between the locus of sovereignty (parliamentary versus popular) and the form of sovereignty (nation-state versus shared). Both governments have drawn upon popular sovereignty norms, but who makes up the people is contested. The UK’s Brexit policy, in relation to both negotiations with the European Union and its domestic preparations, is underpinned by a nation-state sovereignty norm. By contrast, Scottish nationalism is associated with conceptions of shared sovereignty that have become even more pronounced since the European Union referendum. The difficulty in reconciling these sovereignty norms has destabilized the UK’s territorial constitution and created new challenges for advocates of independence.
... The Scottish Parliament has since gained more powers through the Scotland Acts of 2012 and 2016, including control over taxation, welfare, and certain aspects of the legal system [3]. However, many Scots believe that full independence is necessary to fully realize Scotlandʹs potential and address its unique needs [4]. ...
This article explores the multifaceted argument for Scottish independence, emphasizing Scotlandʹs historical context, cultural identity, and the potential benefits of rejoining the European Union (EU). It begins with a historical overview, tracing Scotlandʹs deep roots in independence and its eventual union with England in 1707, which, despite economic benefits, subordinated Scottish interests to those of England. The article argues that Scotlandʹs distinct identity and ongoing desire for autonomy justify a renewed push for independence. Reuniting with Europe is presented as a key advantage, offering Scotland access to the EUʹs single market, financial support, and a platform for political influence. Additionally, independence would empower Scotland to harness its renewable energy resources, develop tailored economic policies, and uphold its tradition of social justice. However, the article also acknowledges the unique challenges Scotland faces, particularly in formulating citizenship policies amidst the legacy of English imperialism. Ultimately, the article posits that despite these challenges, independence offers Scotland a path to realizing its full potential as a sovereign nation committed to democracy, equality, and cooperation.
... The Scottish Parliament has since gained more powers through the Scotland Acts of 2012 and 2016, including control over taxation, welfare, and certain aspects of the legal system (Scottish Parliament, 2019). However, many Scots believe that full independence is necessary to fully realize Scotlandʹs potential and address its unique needs (Mitchell, 2014). ...
Why Scotland Should Be Independent:
Historical Context, European Identity,
Future Prosperity, and Unique
Citizenship Challenges
... A Royal Commission on Scottish Affairs was established in 1952 and reported in 1954, resulting in an extension in the responsibilities of the Scottish Office and the Secretary of State. 4 In Wales, the road to institutional distinctiveness was a longer one than in Scotland. 5 There was a trickle of decentralisation in the early Twentieth Century with the establishment of a Welsh Department in the Board of Education and a Welsh Board of Health and Council of Agriculture for Wales. ...
... Widely viewed as an incorporating rather than assimilating union, political partnership did not entail the abolition of autarchic institutions in Scotland, nor a statewide nation-building project as found in other European states. Instead, separate educational, legal, and religious traditions were maintained in Scotland, allowing for Scottish distinctiveness within the Union (Mitchell, 2014). Further, recognition of Scottish nationhood formed a central tenet of the newly forged unionist ideology 'which fully recognises national pluralism and the distinct traditions of the four nations' (Keating, 2015: 178). ...
The United Kingdom’s vote to exit the European Union reignited the debate about Scottish independence, requiring statewide political parties to rearticulate the case for the Union. The UK Conservative Party, as the party of government and one with a tumultuous history vis-à-vis Scotland and devolution, was at the fore in making this case. This article explores representations of Scotland, its position within the United Kingdom, and Scottish nationalism as a political force by the Conservative Party at a prolonged moment of significant political and constitutional tension. We focus, therefore, on 2019 to 2024, a parliamentary term and political period defined by protracted debates on Scotland’s place within the Union, playing out against the backdrop of the Brexit negotiations, the Covid-19 pandemic, and a worsening cost-of-living crisis. To this end, we draw upon parliamentary debates, two daily English newspapers ( The Daily Telegraph and the Sun ) and two online right-leaning news sites ( ConservativeHome and The Spectator online). Our analysis identifies three distinct but interrelated strands in Conservative representations of Scotland, each of which is centred on a contrast. First, a distinction between an inclusive unionism versus a narrow nationalism; second, a largely economic narrative, contrasting a prosperous union with the economic risks of independence; and finally, a contrast between governmental competence at Westminster and the SNP-led Scottish Government failing Scotland. These contrasting narratives elucidate the ways in which Conservatives construct representations of Scotland, particularly at moments of constitutional contestation.
... Ross aimed to promote economic planning in Scotland through the creation of the Highlands and Islands Development Board and the Scottish Development Agency. This centralised policy orientation bolstered his tense relationship with the rising Scottish National Party (Mitchell, 2014). ...
Are Scottish politicians regional ambassadors for Scotland in British institutions? This study explores the presence and influence of Scottish cabinet ministers and members of parliament (MPs) in British politics from 1945 to 2020. The paper shows that the traditional overrepresentation of Scots in Westminster ended in 2005. Scottish MPs have reached key positions in the House of Commons under Labour governments but disappeared almost completely from the front bench after 2010. Meanwhile, contributions by Scottish MPs have focussed heavily on issues that relate specifically to Scotland. Nevertheless, in the case of Whitehall, the article observes a limited presence and policy impact of Scottish ministers over the whole period, except under the Blair and Brown premierships. The only regular position reached by Scottish ministers has been that of Secretary of State for Scotland. However, the de-activation of the Scotland Office after devolution and the lack of Scottish Conservative ministers have limited the voice of Scotland in the executive. In summary, the British system of territorial recruitment ensures a minimum representation, but not necessarily an influence, of territorial minorities like the Scots.
... Opción, que por entonces, era la preferencia con mayor apoyo entre la opinión pública escocesa (Keating, 2017a;Riddoch, 2012 Escocia, ¿secesionismo o europeísmo? Javier Antón Merino conllevó una oportunidad para confrontar las posiciones secesionistas y las unionistas en un debate serio sobre los pros y los contras de cada una de las mismas (Keating, 2017a;Mitchell, 2014), lo que sirvió al electorado escocés para disponer de una mayor información y contribuyó a la cristalización de las posturas de la población (Liñeira, Henderson, y Delaney, 2017: 189). ...
Con apenas veinte años de recorrido, el Parlamento escocés acaba de empezar su sexta legislatura. El 6 de mayo de 2021 se celebraron las últimas elecciones para elegir a los representantes de esta joven institución. En este texto, prestando especial atención a la última convocatoria electoral, se pretende realizar un análisis histórico y descriptivo en el que se examinará el sistema electoral, el sistema de partidos, los resultados electorales y el modelo de selección de candidatos para el puesto de First Minister en Escocia. Además, este escrito también ofrece una contextualización de algunos de los principales debates que acaparan la actualidad política de los escoceses.
... Mitchell states that print media helped shaping a sense of Scottishness in everyday life, as Scots became more aware of the English (Mitchell, 2014, p, 36 as cited in Engstrom, 2019. The analysis of the media coverage of the referendum shows that the print media greatly supported pro-union (Dekavalla, 2016as cited in Engstrom, 2014, whereas the online activity was primarily in favor of independence. ...
The present article seeks to study the concepts of “love” and “homeland” from linguistic and cultural perspectives. Within the frames of the article an attempt is made to elucidate these concepts in Scottish ballads and media. The article also dwells upon the inherent nature of the aforementioned concepts as underlying units of Scottish culture since concepts as such reflect the mental activities of language speakers. The concepts of “love” and “homeland” embody crucial values and images common to any linguo-culture. The linguo-cultural analysis of factual data taken from folk texts (Scottish ballads) and media discourse (articles) sheds light upon not only the lexical actualization but also modern perception of the given concepts. The choice of the material is conditioned by the necessity to highlight their diachronic evolution and their importance in contemporary research. A special reference is made to the media coverage of the Scottish Independence referendum, which illustrates Scots’ attitude towards their ethnic identity and their country as a whole.
... Just as the creation of a Scottish Office and associated minister in 1885 set a precedent for the UK government's handling of territorial governance, the Scottish Grand Committee (SGC) introduced a territorial element into parliamentary business upon its creation in 1894. After abolition by the Conservatives, it was reestablished on a permanent basis when the Liberals returned to office in 1906 (Mitchell, 2014). ...
The territorial departmental select committees have largely escaped academic scrutiny since their establishment in 1979 (for Scotland and Wales) and 1994 (Northern Ireland). This article charts the history of territorial representation in Westminster, including the creation of grand committees for Scotland and Wales and a Northern Ireland Standing Committee, before explaining the forces that led to the creation of territorial departmental select committees. The article then explores the work of these committees after their formation, and explores how they have responded to the devolution dispensations in their respective nations. A key theme of this article is the influence of constitutional developments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on territorial committees at Westminster. Indeed, as this article highlights, the different timings of establishment, the asymmetric levels of (in)stability in the various devolution dispensations and prolonged suspensions of devolution in Northern Ireland have had an impact on the role of the respective territorial select committees.
... As with benefit recipients, policymakers were conscious of the political, public, and media discourse around social security and its impact on service users, with elite rhetoric implicated by researchers in the creation of a "cultural economy of disgust" towards claimants (Jensen & Tyler, 2015;Wiggan, 2012). Research literature suggests Scottish public attitudes to the welfare state do not differ dramatically from those in the United Kingdom as a whole (Curtice & Ormston, 2011;Mitchell, 2014), a perspective shared by some interviewees. However, others painted a picture of a radical Scotland characterised by concern for "egalitarianism," fairness, and the "commonweal." ...
Dignity and social security have been closely associated since at least the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, but there is a lack of clarity around what dignity means in this context. This article explores how two key stakeholders—out‐of‐work benefit recipients and policymakers—understand dignity in the context of social security, drawing on qualitative research with each group. The evidence presented notes a relative absence of direct references to dignity among policymakers, although related issues are nonetheless discussed, whereas benefit recipients commonly articulate experiences of undignified treatment and the negative impact this has on their lives. This article's exploration of dignity is of particular relevance to Scotland, where recent framework legislation includes the principle that their security system should be underpinned by “respect for the dignity of individuals.” The authors propose that a social security system that protects dignity must take account of distributional, relational, and intrinsic aspects of dignity—providing sufficient income, treating users with respect, and avoiding interventions or discourses that are disrespectful and dehumanizing. Further, the authors question whether it is possible for dignity to enjoy meaningful protection within highly disciplinary conditional welfare regimes.
... No doubt, the best-known example of an agreed referendum on inde- pendence has been the one that took place in Scotland in September 2014. After a complex set of negotiations following the seize of power in Edinburgh by the Scottish National Party (2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011) (Mitchell 2014), the so-called Edinburgh agreement (2012) provided for a referendum on just two options: independence or status quo, although the politi- cal promise from London was further devolution of powers in case of a vote against independence (Tierney 2013). Especially, noteworthy for the purposes of this paper are the absence of any entrenchment for the ref- erendum, the scope of the right to vote and the exclusion of a third legal option between independence and status quo. ...
The chapter argues that a significant amount of law has been developed over the past twenty years in order to constitutionalize secession. The legacy of the Canadian Quebec Secession Reference has been remarkable and has permeated, implicitly or explicitly, several legal systems, especially through their courts. However, the legal regulation of secessionist claims has so far been focusing almost exclusively on referendums, often not assisted by additional safeguards against plebiscitary (ab)use. At the same time, the legal regulation of political phenomena, which is the typical trend of constitutionalism, is clearly emerging with regard to secession too, and several instruments are being or can be employed to achieve a more effective, legally guaranteed and democratic comparative constitutional law of secession. Albeit sometimes unaware, these instruments are being developed. In its final session, the paper presents and discusses them.
The integration of health and social care has been a key focus in Scotland, driven by demographic changes, rising healthcare costs, and the need for more efficient service delivery. The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 sought to formalise this integration by restructuring governance and service provision to improve coordination between health and social care sectors. Despite these efforts, challenges remain in fully achieving the intended outcomes of the integration. This study analysed Scotland’s integrated health and social care through the theoretical frameworks of public choice, institutionalism, and functionalism. The objective was to examine policy drivers, structural mechanisms, and governance implications, providing insights into the broader impact of integrated care reforms. A qualitative research approach was employed, synthesising data from peer-reviewed literature, government publications, and policy documents. The findings on integration were systematically examined through the lens of each public policy model, allowing for a nuanced analysis of how Scotland’s approach to integration aligns with and diverges from these frameworks. A literature search was performed on PUBMED, Google Scholar, and Scottish government portals. While integration improved coordination and service delivery in some areas, limitations in funding allocation, workforce distribution, and governance autonomy limited its overall success. Scotland’s integrated care model demonstrates potential benefits in reducing service fragmentation and improving patient-centred care; however, persistent challenges such as funding constraints, workforce shortages, and governance conflicts indicate that integration alone is not sufficient to resolve systemic healthcare inefficiencies. This study provides a perspective on Scotland’s health and social care integration, offering valuable lessons for other European countries facing similar demographic and healthcare challenges.
Devolution processes, while aiming to transfer power to sub-state entities, contribute to creating new political, administrative, and economic centres. Consequently, in multi-level systems, we observe the coexistence of state-wide and sub-state capital cities, which may be perceived differently by citizens. This article focuses on the United Kingdom and analyses the results of an original survey conducted in Scotland and Wales. In these two devolved nations, sub-state capital cities, Edinburgh and Cardiff, ‘compete’ with the UK capital, London. Respondents were asked to assess these three cities across three dimensions: the individual/value dimension, the symbolic dimension, and the integrative dimension. While, overall, both Edinburgh and Cardiff outperform London on all three dimensions, important differences exist among respondents. This study shows that far from being neutral, the role of capital cities in devolved jurisdictions can be highly politicised and is also closely associated with individual preferences for more or less decentralisation.
This paper links the debates on constituent power and European independence movements in order to develop a theoretically compelling and empirically grounded conception of constituent power, as well as to assess in how far constituent power contributes to the meaning of political independence. In its first part, it builds upon recent republican contributions to the debates on corporate, joint and collective agency and argues that, even on individualist grounds, constituent power can convincingly be understood as a surplus of collective agency that corporate agency cannot encompass. In the second part of the paper, these preliminary theoretical considerations are confronted with the debates about Scotland's constitutional future and the 2014 independence referendum. This examination suggests further differentiation, but also facilitates insights into the interplay of the constituent power of the people with corporate forms of agency, as well as into changes of constituent peoples. In the final part, the paper inverts the perspective of inquiry to show that, once one is conscious of the complex relation between popular sovereignty and sovereignty that conceptions of corporate and collective agency help us to grasp, constituent power also proves to be an element of a compelling political conception of political independence.
The Scottish independence referendum in 2014 has been widely studied. However, studies exploring how the Scottish Government, led by the Scottish National Party, legitimatised Scottish independence are relatively scarce. Building on a concept, “nationalism-social policy nexus”, developed by Daniel Béland and André Lecours, and analysis of a government white paper Scotland’s Future as well as speeches by the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, the way in which the Scottish Government legitimatised Scottish independence by criticising the “bedroom tax”, which was introduced by the Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition government in April 2013, is demonstrated.
Existing research on party leader questioning in legislatures usually focuses on single case studies, less-than-ideal behaviours across leaders, and often post-election periods. Our article compares hostility and positivity in behaviours across three parliaments and, because of the COVID-19 crisis, across different time periods and modes of operation (live, hybrid, and online) while controlling for the same leaders. Using content analysis at the sentence level (N = 3554), our data contrast parliamentary leader hostility and positivity levels in the UK, Scottish, and Welsh Parliaments across three time periods: pre-COVID-19, initial, and lockdown COVID-19. Findings for positivity are mixed, but for hostility, we find that while the initial shock of the COVID-19 crisis suppressed hostility, Westminster has higher ratios of hostility across all three time periods, and that format of operation has little effect on behaviour. Findings suggest less hostility in Scotland and Wales than in Westminster adding possible weight to ‘new politics’ arguments.
In this paper, we theorize the 2016 Brexit referendum as a critical juncture in UK politics and analyse its effects on devolution using the concept of regional authority. We argue that Brexit raised the option of re-balancing the self-rule and shared rule dimensions of regional authority present in UK devolution. We generate hypotheses regarding parties’ territorial strategies and test them against a content analysis of 2015 and 2017 UK general election manifestos. We demonstrate that proposals dealing with shared rule grew between 2015 and 2017, within the context of consistency in parties’ overall territorial positioning. The governing Conservatives also offered more proposals on shared rule but not ones that increased devolved influence. Overall, they moved from favouring an increase in regional authority in 2015 to the cusp of maintaining existing regional authority and somewhat reducing it in 2017. This helps to explain whypost-Brexit UK government policy in practice maintained a primary focus on self-rule within a general approach of limiting the further growth of regional authority.
This chapter examines the approach of UK Conservative Governments 2015–2020 to the territorial governance of the multinational UK and Scotland. The nature of Unionism for UK Conservative Governments 2015–2020 changed significantly following the referendum result of 2016. Legislation in 1998 that established the devolved Scottish Parliament was interwoven with continued UK membership of the EU, with devolved responsibilities interwoven with EU matters and responsibilities. The chapter explores whether constitutional challenges prior to the 2016 EU Referendum, underpinned by the electoral divergence between Scotland and England, were not only intensified after 2016 but that this marked a new period in the UK Conservative Government handling of the ‘devolution settlement’ in Scotland. By March 2020, government interventions in the UK as response to the COVID-19 pandemic shaped the nature of inter-governmental relations in the devolved UK and the approach of the Johnston Government to the constitution and devolution was characterised as ‘muscular’ unionism.KeywordsUnionismDevolutionBrexitTerritorial governanceScotland
This chapter examines the evolution of Spain and the United Kingdom (UK) as federal political systems. Neither Spain nor the UK qualifies as a full-fledged federation, but an identifiable process of federalization has taken root in both cases. Unpacking the experience of political decentralization, the chapter examines the efficacy of current arrangements vis-à-vis the politics of accommodation, with specific reference to elements of symbolic recognition, self-rule and shared rule, and identifies ongoing challenges to the development of federalism in Spain and the UK. In discussing the origins, evolution and challenges of the territorial models in both cases, the analysis highlights the evolving practice of territorial reform in these political systems, notwithstanding the absence of a conscious federal teleology. The analysis shows that federalism—as an enhanced model of territorial accommodation—has much to offer both Spain and the UK, but hitherto remains a marginalized option for constitutional reform.
The creation of the Scottish Parliament provided Scottish citizens with an additional layer of politicians to represent them. But to whom do constituents turn when seeking help with a problem—councillors, MSPs or MPs? We assess how partisanship, national identity and shared competences affect public perceptions of the governing responsibilities of the UK Parliament, Scottish Parliament and local councils. We find that an individual’s national identity considerably affects perceptions of the political powers delegated to Scottish political institutions. We conclude by considering the implications for efforts to further devolve powers to the devolved legislatures in the UK.
Question Time is subject to problems of collective action and coordination. Individual parliamentarians seeking to build a personal vote are not incentivised to participate, despite the fact that the collective party brand affecting re-election is at risk during these highly publicised weekly spectacles. We analyse questions asked at First Minister’s Question Time during the first four sessions of the Scottish Parliament to examine the factors predicting whether and how parliamentarians chose to participate in oversight of the government. Despite the varied incentives provided by the Scottish Parliament’s electoral system, the total number of questions asked and the tone of those questions is largely a function of whether the Member of Scottish Parliament (MSP) is serving in the governing party or not.
The poll tax was a key episode in British politics. The widespread opposition campaign has been described as an important expression of Scottish political and national opposition to Thatcherism. The historiographical focus on Glasgow has been influential in this interpretation. By broadening the focus to other Scottish geographies, this article challenges this portrayal and highlights the lived experience of poverty that underpinned resistance and gave political discourses their power. By reframing the argument through the lens of poverty it develops an alternative understanding of the causes of the tax, inverting the narrative that suggests political discourses drove resistance.
There is a burgeoning literature that suggests that, across a number of social policy domains, ‘Scotland is different’. Hitherto however, race equality policy has been largely overlooked and this article addresses this within the context of recent and historical developments in a devolved policy context. Adopting a mixed-method case-study analysis, including thirty-two semi-structured interviews with civil society and Scottish Government, the article shows how policy actors lack a consensus on the underlying causes of racial inequality, in ways that may impede policy making. In this sense, the article shows how Scotland ‘orbits’ around existing settlements, rather than necessarily setting off in a new course that goes beyond the fact of contingency. The implications of this analysis have a much broader relevance, including an account of how race equality policy opportunities encounter political obstacles, in a way that bears both specific and generalizable qualities. These include the role of policy coalitions in holding and promoting a coherent set of positions, the particularity of race as an idea or ‘cognitive problem’, and how prevailing narratives about national identities can feed into this process.
This chapter considers the influence of the Reference Re Secession of Quebec on the debate preceding and surrounding the Scottish independence referendum of 2014. It argues that the Reference influenced the framing of the putative Scottish secession in the European legal imagination on three levels. Firstly, the Canadian Supreme Court’s treatment of the right to external self-determination informed the content of a normative conception of the “principle of constitutional tolerance” which Weiler identified as generating an imperative to preclude a Scottish successor state from membership of the Union. Secondly, the Supreme Court’s answer to Question 1 of the Reference had a methodological influence on those, like Douglas-Scott, who sought to formulate a European legal response to a would-be Scottish “yes” vote in the light an approach that would make the “vital unstated assumptions” of the European project legally cognisable by privileging the importance of the values on which the Union is premised above the conferral of discrete competences. A third influence is also put forward: the Reference presents a way of resolving the well-rehearsed procedural dilemma between Articles 48 and 49 of the Treaty on European Union, by suggesting a turn to the associative commitments in which those two amending powers are each nested. While any proposal to constitutionalise the question of Scottish independence seems to defy the nature of the European Union, the Reference has had a decisive influence on attempts to apprehend that prospective secession in the terms of the principles that unite the Member State and Union legal orders.
This paper presents an alternative interpretation of Scottish politics between 1945 and 1970, a period that witnessed the decline of a once-powerful Unionist tradition, the revival of Liberalism and the rise of the Scottish National party (SNP). While existing accounts have focused principally upon social and economic factors, this study foregrounds the role of ideology and rhetoric. During the 1940s and early 1950s, Scottish Unionists were, like their Conservative colleagues elsewhere in Britain, able to construct a popular, but essentially negative, anti-socialist coalition that prioritised the defence of individual liberty. This electoral alliance, defined by opposition to Labour's programme of nationalisation and expressed via an individualist idiom, was able to attract broad support; it was, however, always provisional, and proved increasingly difficult to sustain after the Conservative party returned to office in 1951. It was, this paper suggests, the fragmenting of this anti-socialist coalition in the late 1950s and early 1960s that created the opportunity for both the Liberals and the SNP to present alternative renderings of this individualist appeal, and to emerge as credible political alternatives. Crucially, by the 1960s, individual liberty was beginning to be understood in constitutional rather than economic terms.
This article examines the work of Robert Hurd (1905–1963), a Scottish nationalist architect, planner, and admirer of Scottish civic traditions, in order to query and enrich current anthropological approaches to “material politics” with their focus on material assemblies, infrastructures, and interactions that operate across scales and beyond discourse. Hurd was both an expert and planner and also an “artisan of nationalism” who sought to restore Scotland's built environment as at once a civic heritage and a material resource for a future of independence and self-determination. Hurd's attention to distinctively Scottish architectural forms and to historic centers and their development over time is significant as an idiom of nationalist thought, while his architectural work highlights the formal manipulation of scale and centrality to express political aspirations. He was an expert not only of infrastructure, plans, or populations and their needs, but also of the mediation of such material facts into architectural form and, in a broader sense, forms of life. Finally, Hurd's writing on “burgh” civic and architectural traditions, and his work as a conservation architect, together allow a better understanding of the role played by a conservative, tradition-minded modernism, and of narratives of tradition and national evolution, in the twentieth-century history and present development of Scotland's national and constitutional politics.
Scottish nationalism has long interested political scientists and historians but has often been interpreted narrowly as the desire for full independence from the multi-national United Kingdom. A broader definition, however, reveals what this article calls the 'nationalist unionism' of the Scottish Unionist Party (1912-65), and its surprisingly nuanced view of Scottish national identity as well as Scotland's place in the UK. Drawing on nationalist theory, Smith's 'ethno-symbolism', Billig's 'banal nationalism' and Bulpitt's interpretation of the Conservative Party's 'territorial code' are deployed to analyse this phenomena, supporting the argument that it rested upon myths and symbols from the pre-modern era; pushed what it perceived as 'bad' nationalism (the desire for legislative rather than administrative devolution) to the 'periphery' of Scottish political discourse and, finally, demonstrated the willingness of the unionist 'core' to allow the Scottish Unionist Party to pursue a relatively autonomous strategy for electoral dominance. Furthermore, this article argues that the Scottish Unionist Party presented itself - most ostentatiously between the early 1930s and mid 1950s - as the main 'guardian' of a distinct Scottish national identity, while celebrating and protecting Scotland's semi-autonomous place within the UK.
The 2014 Scottish independence referendum campaign saw a surge of campaigning activity from groups on both sides of the debate. The mainstream elements of the campaign were criticised for not bringing enough attention to women's issues, and so Women For Independence (WFI) and Women Together (WT) were created in order to try and alleviate these concerns. This paper aims to compare the two organisations to ascertain whether or not they can be classified as part of wider social movements. Utilising data from the Scottish Political Archive at the University of Stirling, as well as face-to-face interviews and email conversations with activists from both groups, this paper explores the organisational structures and framing strategies of the two groups, as well as the opportunities and constraints they faced when it came to achieving their goals. Whilst WFI can be classified as a Social Movement Organisation operating within both the pro-independence and women's movements, WT cannot be classified in this way and simply existed as a useful campaigning label during the independence referendum. WFI still continues to exist as a healthy, autonomous entity that, should a second independence referendum be called, will be in a strong position to campaign for the female vote and overturn the persistent gender gap that exists in support for Scottish independence.
Cet article propose une lecture croisée de quatre ouvrages récents consacrés au système politique britannique : deux livres en nom propre analysant les problèmes de la démocratie représentative et du mode de gouvernement de la Grande-Bretagne ; deux ouvrages collectifs traitant de l’impact du gouvernement de coalition et des élections générales de 2015. Ces lectures critiques nous permettent de repérer trois points de tension dans la démocratie britannique, exacerbés par le référendum de 2016 sur l’appartenance à l’Union européenne : une tension liée à la question de la souveraineté, entre démocratie représentative et démocratie directe ; une tension « territoriale », entre les pays constitutifs du Royaume-Uni ; et une tension « organisationnelle » au sein des principaux partis. Après avoir replacé le cas britannique dans un cadre comparatif européen, nous nous concentrons sur les défis liés à la question de la représentation et au modèle de Westminster : la capacité croissante des citoyens à s’imposer dans l’espace politique et les réponses changeantes apportées à la question de R. Dahl : « Qui gouverne ? » ; les logiques du pouvoir du Premier ministre, pendant et après la coalition ; la politique de « valence » dans la compétition électorale, en contraste avec celle de l’arène référendaire. Nous dégageons enfin quelques conclusions sur la nature profonde de ces tensions et les incertitudes qu’elles soulèvent quant à l’avenir de la démocratie britannique.
Research on mixed-member legislatures demonstrates that members face different incentive structures when cultivating a personal vote. In this article, we examine how Scotland’s adoption of a mixed-member proportional system (MMP) and a change in ballot structure affect the legislative activities undertaken and emphasised by Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs). Utilising a range of measures of legislative behaviour, we find that MSPs representing constituencies spend less time legislating and more time engaged in constituent service work. Regional members, conversely, lodge more parliamentary motions when not listed on the ballot and sponsor more members’ bills than constituency-based colleagues when on the ballot. We conclude that electoral structures directly affect the representational styles MSPs adopt, while calling for conceptual reconsideration of the personal vote.
This article investigates the extent to which independence referenda that do not lead to independence affect the politics of national minority communities and the larger multinational states that contain them. Using the cases of Quebec, Scotland, and Catalonia, the article analyzes the consequences of independence referenda for the nationalist party that initiated them, for popular support for the independence option, and for the state’s practices for managing nationalist movements. The article concludes that the party promoting independence in a referendum is not harmed, at least in the short term, by its defeat; that independence referenda do not generate significant long-term support for the independence option, although they help to legitimize that option; and that referenda do not prompt governments to move toward more accommodation of nationalist movements, unless they formally committed to a specific change during the campaign. The nature and extent of the impact of independence referenda on the politics of national minority communities and the multinational states are largely determined by the dynamics of referendum campaigns, where the competition between nationalist and unionist forces plays out.
This article addresses the territorial dimension of the Brexit referendum and its consequences, especially with respect to devolution and the independence debate within Scotland. The convincing Scottish majority vote for Remain alongside the UK vote to leave the EU has exposed the difficulties in reconciling rival self-determination claims. The Brexit vote has also raised again the issue of Scotland’s place within the UK, and for some justifies reconsideration of the decision the Scottish electorate made to remain within the UK by rejecting independence in 2014. The article considers the explanations for the Remain vote in Scotland, and the reactions of the Scottish and UK Governments to the competing preferences north and south of the border. It argues that the ‘one nation’ nationalist rhetoric of the UK Government in the aftermath of the vote is at odds with the plurinational character of the United Kingdom. It critically examines the effects of the Brexit process to date on the influence and constitutional authority of the devolved institutions, while pointing to the challenges that would confront advocates of independence were that issue to re-emerge as the Brexit process unfolds.
This paper examines migration and identity in contemporary Scotland and engages with ongoing debates about the relationship between nationalism and cosmopolitanism. The paper employs Arendt’s maxim of the ‘right to have rights’ to suggest that while identity would not be the sole or specific focus of policy, more well-developed social policy attuned to the complexities of identity formation would facilitate multicultural and multi-ethnic social identification.
In an era of Brexit and on-going constitutional debates in the UK, questions around devolution and national identifications currently attract scholarly attention as never before. This article focusses on national identification in two devolved regions, Wales and Northern Ireland, never before compared in this way, to explore how devolution can act in a fluid and multidirectional way to produce differing framings of national identification. Using original qualitative research, combining the tools of documentary analysis, structured interviews and focus groups, it considers these theoretical ideas through the prism of both political elites and everyday life to explore and compare the reasoning behind the politicization of key national identifications.
Introduction: Independence, global entanglement and the co-production of sovereignty - Volume 6 Issue 2 - K. M. FIERKE
This article examines the political context, campaign, election results and outcomes of the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. The Scottish National Party (SNP) secured its third electoral victory, yet failed to achieve a widely predicted majority. With just 2 MSPs short of a majority, the SNP has ruled out any formal coalition with the opposition and will instead govern as a minority administration. The composition of the parliament's opposition also significantly changed. The Scottish Conservatives increased their share of the constituency and regional votes, and became, for the first time, the largest opposition party in the chamber. Scottish Labour suffered a severe electoral drubbing, losing 13 of its seats. The election was also important for the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Scottish Green Party. The latter increased its vote share and number of seats, leapfrogging the LibDems to become the fourth largest party in the chamber.
This special issue of the Journal of Borderlands Studies “brings the Anglo-Scottish border back in” by drawing upon six of the contributions from an ESRC Seminar Series on the nature of the cross-border relationship between Scotland and its “closest cousins,” in Northern England. The seminars, which took place in 2014–2015, involved a range of contributors including academics, policy-makers and practitioners, with the academics drawn from a range of disciplines, including politics, cultural history, visual culture, economic geography, sociology, and planning. This introduction will examine the main characteristics of the Anglo–Scottish border and capture the nature of contemporary border change. It will then focus on the cross-border relationship between Scotland and the North of England before highlighting the key themes of the six articles contained in this special issue. It will conclude by examining how debates on the Anglo–Scottish border, and its borderlands, can be located within recent attempts to reconceptualize borders and bordering.
Recent theoretical re-conceptualisations of political representation and contemporary empirical analyses of parliamentary representation have largely neglected the representation of parliaments as institutions. As a consequence, relatively little attention has been focused upon what is being communicated to citizens about parliaments, and upon the nature of the parliamentary institutions that citizens are expected to engage with. This is the neglected institutional dimension of parliamentary representation. Using official documents and interview data from 39 key actors in the Scottish, Westminster and European Parliaments, we analyse who act as ‘claim-makers’ on behalf of parliaments, the nature of these claims in different political contexts, and the symbolic representative prompts offered by the very architecture of parliaments. We identify a basic paradox of institutional representation in that those who ‘speak for’ (most loudly and most persistently) and ‘act for’ parliaments as institutions are not primarily elected representatives but rather non-elected officials.
In 2009, the UK government emphasised that it was ‘deeply committed’ to the maintenance of the state's social union, embodied in a single social security system. Five years later, the future of this social union appeared less certain than at any time since the 1920s. Dissatisfaction with the ‘welfare reform’ agenda of the coalition government was a driver of support for Scottish independence in the 2014 referendum campaign. Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Assembly failed to pass legislation to mirror the Welfare Reform Act 2012, normally a formality due to the convention of parity in social security. Despite Westminster's subsequent extension of the 2012 reforms to the region, divergence in secondary legislation and practice remains likely. This article draws on the findings of qualitative interviews with politicians and civil servants in both regions during a period covering the conclusion of the Smith Commission's work on the future of Scottish devolution and the height of a political impasse over Northern Ireland's Welfare Reform Bill that threatened a constitutional crisis. It considers the extent to which steps towards divergence in the two devolved regions have altered the UK's social union and to which the two processes have influenced one another.
This article considers education policy under the SNP Governments from 2007-2016. It deals with aspects from primary, secondary and tertiary education. The main approach of the article is to examine the role of education policy within the broad context of SNP governing strategy. Education is treated as a key element of strategy throughout the policy period. The SNP's long-term strategic aim is independence for Scotland. The article examines ways in which governing strategy, and education policy in particular, were used by the SNP within the constraints of devolution during the period 2007-2016. The political background to that strategy changed significantly during the period. The article discusses the opportunities and challenges presented to the SNP in the context of diverging views on education and other elements of economic and social policy within the UK, particularly in the period after the 2015 General Election.
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