Scottish nationalism is a powerful movement in contemporary politics, yet the goal of Scottish independence emerged surprisingly recently into public debate. The origins of Scottish nationalism lie not in the medieval battles for Scottish statehood, the Acts of Union, the Scottish Enlightenment, or any other traditional historical milestone. Instead, an influential separatist Scottish nationalism began to take shape only in the 1970s and achieved its present ideological maturity in the course of the 1980s and 1990s. The nationalism that emerged from this testing period of Scottish history was unusual in that it demanded independence not to defend a threatened ancestral culture but as the most effective way to promote the agenda of the left. This accessible and engaging account of the political thought of Scottish nationalism explores how the arguments for Scottish independence were crafted over some fifty years by intellectuals, politicians and activists, and why these ideas had such a seismic impact on Scottish and British politics in the 2014 independence referendum.

The September 2014 Scottish independence referendum was an event of profound constitutional and political significance, not only for Scotland, but for the UK as a whole. Although Scottish voters chose to remain in the UK, the experience of the referendum and the subsequent political reaction to the 'No' vote that triggered significant reforms to the devolution settlement have fundamentally altered Scotland's position within the Union. The extraordinary success of the Scottish National Party at the 2015 General Election also indicates that the territorial dimension to UK constitutional politics is more prominent than ever, destabilising key assumptions about the location and exercise of constitutional authority within the UK. The political and constitutional implications of the referendum are still unfolding, and it is by no means certain that the Union will survive. Providing a systematic and academic analysis of the referendum and its aftermath, this interdisciplinary edited collection brings together public lawyers, political scientists, economists, and historians in an effort to look both backwards to, and forwards from, the referendum. The chapters evaluate the historical events leading up to the referendum, the referendum process, and the key issues arising from the referendum debate. They also explore the implications of the referendum both for the future governance of Scotland and for the UK's territorial constitution, drawing on comparative experience in order to understand how the constitution may evolve, and how the independence debate may play out in future.

The Handbook of Scottish Politics provides a detailed overview of politics in Scotland, looking at areas such as elections and electoral behaviour, public policy, political parties, and Scotland's relationship with the EU and the wider world. The contributors to this volume are some of the leading experts on politics in Scotland.

Traces the development of the ideology of modern Scottish nationalism from the 1960s to the independence referendum in 2014.

In March 2013, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond announced that the long-awaited referendum on Scottish independence would take place on 18 September 2014. More often than not, those in favour of an independent Scotland present their fight as a constitutional means to a socio-economic end. In the words of Alex Salmond himself: “Progress to independence. Not for its own sake, not ‘let’s be independent so we can hoist the Saltire’. Let’s be independent so we can better the lives of the Scottish people.” (quoted by Tom Peterkin, “Alex Salmond: ‘I’d be a labourer if it wasn’t for Mum’” – Scotland on Sunday, 16 January 2011) If, as suggested by the quote, breaking with the rest of the UK automatically means improved socio-economic performance, one consequently has to accept that there is only one constraint weighing Scotland down, and that it is the Union. However, is it all really that simple? Another commonly overlooked difficulty is that independence – that is to say, a Scottish state for a Scottish nation – inevitably goes hand in hand with a redefinition of national solidarity within a strictly Scottish context. This begs the question: how do Nationalists justify this redefinition when their country has been an integral part of a particularly fluid group of nations since the early 18th century? The last delicate issue raised by the Scottish referendum has to do with state building and the Nationalists’ heavy reliance on the promotion of civic nationalism despite the notion’s inherent limits.

Scotland faces its biggest choice since the 1707 union that made the United Kingdom - should Scotland be an independent country? The Yes and No campaigns are well under way but with the vote looming closer the information available to the public is still limited. What will happen after the referendum? What are the international implications? What about the UK's nuclear deterrant, currently housed in Scotland? What happens if the vote is 'No'? Is it even clear what independence will mean? What about the oil? What will the currency be? What will happen to the Old Age Pension pot if the UK splits? Scotland's Choices, now fully revised for the critical last few months before the referendum, does just that. Written by one former civil servant, one academic and one think-tanker - one a resident Scot, one a Scot living in England and one an Englishman - the authors clearly explain the issues you may not have considered and detail how each of the options would be put into place after the referendum.

In September 2014, a referendum will be held in Scotland to decide whether or not Scotland should become independent and cease to be part of the United Kingdom. In this book, two of the nation's leading political commentators will address both sides of this historic debate. George Kerevan will put forward the case for voting Yes, and Alan Cochrane will make the case for voting No. In this volume, the first title in this Great Debate series, the authors will present the distinctive arguments for both sides, fully preparing you to make up your own mind on a decision that will shape the future of Scotland and of Great Britain.