The Scottish parliamentary and local elections of 2007 were significant for two key reasons: the SNP was brought to power for the first time in its history, posing a fundamental challenge to the 300-year Scottish-English Union; and the local elections used the Single Transferable Vote - the first time such an electoral system has been used in Great Britain since 1945. This book will explore the significance of these two developments, asking whether they herald a revolutionary break with the past or simply mark a continuing evolution of existing patterns of Scottish politics. It does so using a unique source of evidence - representative high quality annual sample surveys of the Scottish public that since 1999 have regularly measured how people in Scotland have reacted to devolution and how they have behaved in elections. Readers will gain an unparalleled insight into the identities, attitudes and electoral behaviour of people in Scotland during the first decade of devolution.
John Curtice is a Professor of Politics and Director of the Social Statistics Laboratory at Strathclyde University, and Research Consultant to the Scottish Centre for Social Research. He is a regular commentator in the Scottish and British media. Publications include The Rise of New Labour, (with Heath, A. & Jowell, R.) (Oxford University Press, 2001) and New Scotland, New Politics? (with Paterson, L., Brown, A., Hinds, K., McCrone, D., Park, A., Sproston, K., & Surridge, P.) (Polygon, 2001).
David McCrone is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Edinburgh. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and a Fellow of the British Academy. He co-founded the university’s Institute of Governance in 1999, and has written extensively on the sociology and politics of Scotland, and the comparative study of nationalism.
Nicola McEwen is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Edinburgh and Co-Director of the University of Edinburgh's Institute of Governance. Publications include Nationalism and the State: welfare and identity in Scotland and Quebec (2006).
Michael Marsh is a Professor of Comparative Political Behaviour and Dean of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Trinity College Dublin. Publications include (with Marsh, M., Sinnott, R., Garry, J. and Kennedy, F) The Irish voter: the nature of electoral competition in the Republic of Ireland (Manchester University Press, 2008).
Rachel Ormston is Research Director at the Scottish Centre for Social Research and co-director of the Scottish Social Attitudes survey. Publications include Attitudes to government in Scotland (Scottish Government Social Research, 2008).
John Curtice is Professor of Politics and Director of the Social Statistics Laboratory at the University of Strathclyde.
David McCrone is Emeritus Professor at the University of Edinburgh.
Nicola McEwen is Senior Lecturer in Politics and Co-Director of the Institute of Governance at the University of Edinburgh.
Michael Marsh is Professor of Comparative Political Behaviour and Dean of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the Trinity College Dublin.
Rachel Ormston is Research Director at the Scottish Centre for Social Research and co-director of the Scottish Social Attitudes survey.
