The Scottish Political System

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.

First published in 1973, Professor Kellas' account of Scottish government and politics has long been recognized as the standard textbook in the field. Its scope includes a definition of the Scottish political system, and critical descriptions of Scottish administration, parliamentary activity, parties, electoral behavior, 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. The General Election of 1987 provided further evidence of the distinctive character of politics in Scotland. In a new postscript Professor Kellas looks at the principal political developments of the period since 1983, and examines the political and constitutional developments posed by the current imbalance of forces between Westminster and Scotland.

This book presents a narrative of Scottish politics since devolution in 1999. It compares eight years of coalition government under Scottish Labour and the Scottish Liberal Democrats with four years of Scottish National Party minority government. 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, EU 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 book draws heavily on information produced since 1999 by the Scottish Devolution Monitoring project (which forms one part of the devolution monitoring project led by the Constitution Unit, UCL) and is supplemented by new research on public policy, minority government, intergovernmental relations and constitutional change.

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.

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.

First published in 1973, Professor Kellas' account of Scottish government and politics has long been recognized as the standard textbook in the field. Its scope includes a definition of the Scottish political system, and critical descriptions of Scottish administration, parliamentary activity, parties, electoral behavior, 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. The General Election of 1987 provided further evidence of the distinctive character of politics in Scotland. In a new postscript Professor Kellas looks at the principal political developments of the period since 1983, and examines the political and constitutional developments posed by the current imbalance of forces between Westminster and Scotland.

Fully revised, the new edition of this popular textbook provides an authoritative introduction to all aspects of contemporary Scottish politics and gives a full analysis of the SNP's first majority government. Fully revised, the new edition of this popular textbook provides an authoritative introduction to all aspects of contemporary Scottish politics and gives a full analysis of the SNP's first majority government.