Politics
Swinney’s Government starts as damaged goods
Author / Creator: Dean M Thomson
Media type: Article
Date published:
THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT is a reputationally challenged disaster-zone, struggling beneath myriad policy-outcome failures. There is a good reason John Swinney has emerged as SNP leader and new First Minister, unopposed. The leadership crown has become something of a poisoned chalice.
How did we get here? The SNP’s unravelling political strategy and the 2024 UK General Election.
Author / Creator: Mark McGeoghegan
Media type: Article
Date published:
For the first time in eight years, Scotland will have an election that is not first and foremost about Scottish secession from the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, understanding the dynamics of the constitutional debate in Scotland, and particularly the SNP’s failure to secure a second secessionist referendum and the disarming of the SNP’s most powerful electoral narratives, remains crucial for understanding how we came to this place in Scottish politics.
How devolution shaped modern Scotland: referendums, SNP dominance and a changed UK
Author / Creator: Adam Le Grice
Media type: Article
Date published:
The years that followed the SNP victory in the Scottish Parliament saw a radical change in the political landscape of Scotland and the UK
On Surprises, Strategy, the Economy and What Comes Next for Scottish Independence
Author / Creator: Iain Docherty
Media type: Article
Date published:
Nicola Sturgeon's resignation as First Minister and leader of the SNP has thrown Scottish politics into flux. But beneath the superficial media coverage and frenetic party politics that followed her resignation, the fundamentals of the constitutional debate remain unaltered. One of these fundamentals, the extent to which Scotland is better or worse off being part of the UK political economy, is rarely debated in the depth it deserves.
Can the SNP win on July 4?
Author / Creator: Kirsty Hughes
Media type: Article
Date published:
Just days before Rishi Sunak’s bizarrely soggy general election call, the latest YouGov poll gave Labour a lead of 39% to just 29% for the SNP. That would decimate the SNP at Westminster and let Keir Starmer claim to speak for Britain (if not the whole UK).
FFS explains: Political polling as 2024 begins
Author / Creator: Ferret journalists
Media type: Article
Date published:
It is the start of a significant year in Scottish politics, with voters likely to go to the polls in the first UK general election since 2019.
While polling currently puts the Labour Party ahead of the Conservatives UK-wide by a significant margin, in Scotland, the SNP’s decade-long lead among voters is coming under threat.
The party is also facing internal struggles over its path to securing independence, with polling suggesting the public is still split in its support for Scotland leaving the UK.
The methods of Russian interference in Scottish politics
Author / Creator: George Allison
Media type: Article
Date published: 2022
One of the key methods used by Russia to interfere in Scottish politics is through cyber-attacks.
The Dead Center: Reflections on Liberalism and Democracy After the End of History
Author / Creator: Luke Savage
Media type: Book
Date published: 2022
"The Dead Centre, a collection of essays by the Jacobin writer Luke Savage, probes the afterlife of Blairism—or, rather, its variants in Canada and the US. Gone is the hegemonic swagger of the Clinton generation. What we have now is a feeble rehash of the Third Way. Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau may think of themselves as hard-headed pragmatists ready to make painful political compromises for the sake of progress.
Scotland the Bold
Author / Creator: Gerry Hassan
Media type: Book
Date published: November 2016
For self-government to have any meaning it...requires that we begin to talk honestly and maturely about Scotland's future and some of the difficult choices we will have to make; reflecting on where we have come from, what we are proud of, mistakes, and how we do things better in the future.
Scotland the Brave? Twenty Years of Change and the Future of the Nation
Author / Creator: Gerry Hassan
Media type: eBook
Date published: 2019
Politics took a decisive turn twenty years ago with the birth of the modern Scottish Parliament. People in Scotland want to ‘make a difference’ and build a better future. Scotland the Brave? offers both an acute assessment of where we are today and a route map to the future.
Scotland After the Virus
Author / Creator: Gerry Hassan
Media type: Book
Date published:
Is there an 'after the virus', or is covid-19 and a world of future pandemics simply something we will have to live with for an indefinite period of time? In all honesty, no one knows the answer to that, which is why it is so destabilising.
The Scottish Parliament
Author / Creator: Emily St Denny
Media type: Book
Date published: 2020
Scottish Parliament has met some, but not all, of the public and policymakers’ original expectations.
Green Politics
Author / Creator: Antje Brown
Media type: Book
Date published: 2020
Scottish decision makers shy away from a determined green approach. Can Green ambitions and national identity politics be pursued together?
Ethnic Minorities and Political Citizenship in Scotland
Author / Creator: Emma Hill
Media type: Book
Date published: 2020
There is a gap between the ‘aspirational pluralism’ espoused by political elites, and Scotland’s record on the representation of ethnic minorities in politics.
Youth Politics in Scotland: Participation and Inclusion
Author / Creator: Iain MacLeod
Date published: 2020
A look at the effects of reducing voting age and efforts to increase participation of youth in politics.
Women, Gender, and Politics in Scotland
Author / Creator: Meryl Kenny
Date published: 2020
There has been uneven progress made for women as political actors and for gender as an issue in post-devolution Scottish politics.
Understanding Scotland - Society
Author / Creator: Diffley Partnership
Media type: survey report
Date published: October 2021
A look at Scottish society as we emerge from the pandemic, and addresses the fundamental questions: Is Scotland on the right track? Where do we want to go as a country? And who do we trust to help us get there?
Left-wing regionalist populism in the ‘Celtic’ peripheries: Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party’s anti-austerity challenge against the British elites
Author / Creator: Emanuele Massetti
Media type: Academic Paper
Date published:
This article shows that the SNP and Plaid Cymru have adopted a left-wing populist discourse, based on a critique of austerity policies.
The Future of the United Kingdom’s Territorial Constitution: Can the Union Survive?
Author / Creator: Aileen McHarg
Media type: Book
Date published:
The results of Brexit present an ongoing threat to the survival of the UK as a unitary state.
Tax Research UK
Author / Creator: Richard Murphy
Media type: Blog
Date published:
This blog is written by Richard Murphy as a narrative commentary on tax, economics, and related political issues.