9780719070808; 9780719070808; Contents; Figures and tables; Acknowledgements; Part I THE 1970s; 2 Political parties; 3 Interest groups; 4 Public opinion; 5 Failed Europeanisation in the 1970s; Part II THE 1990s; 6 Political parties; 7 Interest groups; 8 Public opinion; 9 Successful Europeanisation in the 1990s; Part III CONCLUSIONS; 10 Explaining Europeanisation and devolution; 11 Epilogue: a new Scotland in a changing Europe; Bibliography; Index
Summary
This book is the first in-depth comparative study of Scottish devolution and the first to analyse the impact of the European dimension. With focus on the periods leading up to the referendums in 1979 and 1997, it investigates positions and strategies of political parties and interest groups and how these influenced constitutional preferences at mass level and ultimately the referendum results. Based on rigorous analysis of an extensive body of quantitative and qualitative sources, it builds a ground-breaking argument that challenges the widespread thesis that support for devolution was a conse
