It outlines the relative effect of each government on Scottish politics and public policy in various contexts, including: high expectations for 'new politics' that were never fully realised; the influence of, and reactions from, the media and public; the role of political parties; the Scottish Government's relations with the UK Government, ELI institutions, local government, quasi-governmental and non-governmental actors; and, the finance available to fund policy initiatives. It then considers how far Scotland has travelled on the road to constitutional change, comparing the original devolved framework with-calls for independence or a new devolution settlement.

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.

Marking the first twenty years of the Scottish Parliament, this collection of essays assesses its impact on Scotland, the UK and Europe, and compares progress against pre-devolution hopes and expectations. Bringing together the voices of ministers and advisers, leading political scientists and historians, commentators, journalists and former civil servants, it builds an authoritative account of what the Scottish Parliament has made of devolution and an essential guide to the powers Holyrood may need for Scotland to flourish in an increasingly uncertain world.

First published in 1973, Professor Kellas's account of Scottish government and politics has long been recognised as the standard textbook in the field. Its scope includes a definition of the Scottish political system, and critical descriptions of Scottish administration (central and local), parliamentary activity, parties, electoral behaviour, and pressure groups. Scottish nationalism is given a wider interpretation than usual, covering not only the support for the Scottish National Party, but the manifestations of national feeling in Scottish life generally. The General Election of 1987 provided further evidence of the distinctive character of politics in Scotland, with the Conservative Party reduced to ten MPs, barely sufficient to fill the existing Scottish ministerial posts. In a new postscript Professor Kellas looks at the principal political developments of the period since 1983, and examines the political and constitutional implications of the current imbalance of forces as between Westminster and Scotland.

Though the SNP has existed since 1934, no full-length history of the Scottish National Party was written until the first edition of this book in 2002. With the SNP having governed Scotland since 2007, and with an outright majority since 2011, the long-held SNP policy of an Independence Referendum is now a reality and scheduled to be held in 2014.

The UK Government is undertaking a major cross-government programme of analysis prior to the referendum on Scottish independence in 2014. The aim is to provide a comprehensive and detailed analysis of Scotland's place in the UK. This paper, the first of a series to be published in 2013 and 2014, examines the UK's constitutional set-up and the legal implications of independence. The UK Government is convinced that the current devolution offers the best for Scotland: the Scottish Parliament and Government are empowered to take decisions on a range of domestic policy areas - such as health, education, policing - while Scotland continues to benefit from decisions made for the UK as a whole - defence and security, foreign representation, economic affairs. Independence is very different to devolution. Based on independent expert opinion (published as Annex A), the paper concludes that if there were to be a vote in favour of leaving the UK, Scotland would become an entirely new state whilst the remainder of the UK would continue as before, retaining the rights and obligations of the UK as it currently stands. Any separation would have to be negotiated between both governments. Legal and practical implications of independence, both at home and abroad, are addressed. An independent Scotland would have to apply to and/or negotiate to become a member of whichever international organisations it wished to join, including the EU and NATO. Scotland would also have to work through its positions on thousands of international treaties to which the UK is currently party.

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