Abstract
The election of a majority Scottish National Party (SNP) Government in Scotland in 2011 all but guaranteed that Scotland would vote on an independence referendum in 2014. The prospect of Scottish independence has triggered widespread concern about the potential emergence of a crisis of the Union following the departure of its second largest member. Scottish independence would force the other devolved territories, and perhaps English regions, to reconsider the role and value of the Union and what it stands for. Further, even an extension of Scottish devolution (a potential longer term consequence of a ‘no to independence’ vote in 2014) would raise new questions about the powers of Wales and Northern Ireland and the future of England within a new Union (Hazell 2006).
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© 2014 Paul Cairney
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Cairney, P. (2014). A Crisis of the Union. In: Richards, D., Smith, M., Hay, C. (eds) Institutional Crisis in 21st-Century Britain. Understanding Governance Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137334398_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137334398_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-46269-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-33439-8
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political Science CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)