The Oxford Handbook of Scottish Politics

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.

Michael Keating, Professor of Politics, University of Aberdeen and Director of the Centre on Constitutional Change,Craig McAngus, Lecturer in Politics, University of the West of Scotland

Michael Keating is Professor of Politics at the University of Aberdeen and Director of the Centre on Constitutional Change, Edinburgh. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, British Academy, Academy of Social Sciences, and European Academy. He has taught at universities in the UK, United States, Canada, Spain, and France and at the European University Institute, Florence. He is the author of numerous publications on nationalism, regionalism, urban politics, and European politics.


Craig McAngus is a lecturer in politics at the University of the West of Scotland. He has previously held positions at the University of Aberdeen and the University of Stirling. His PhD thesis focused on how nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales adapted to devolution, and he has published on party strategy and organisation. His post-doctoral research focused on childcare policy in light of constitutional change in Scotland. More recently, he has published research on the attitudes of fishermen in Scotland and the impact of Brexit on UK fisheries policy.

1. Scotland as a Political Community, Michael Keating
Part 1 - Understanding Scotland
2. Nationality and National Identity, David McCrone
3. The Scottish Union in Historic Perspective, Alvin Jackson
4. Women, Gender and Politics in Scotland, Meryl Kenny and Fiona Mackay
5. Youth Politics in Scotland. Participation and Inclusion, Iain MacLeod and Jan Eichhorn
6. Multicultural Scotland, Ross Bond
7. Understanding the Union, Iain McLean
8. The Scottish constitution, Alan Page
9. Scotland's dual public sphere and the media, Philip Schlesinger
10. Twin Tracks: Cultural and Political Nationalism after 1967, Scott Hames
Part 2 - Parties and Elections
11. Elections and Electoral Systems, James Mitchell and Ailsa Henderson
12. Political Behaviour in Scotland, Ailsa Henderson, Rob Johns, Christopher Carman and James Mitchell
13. The Scottish Conservative Party, Alan Convery
14. The Scottish Labour Party, Gerry Hassan and Eric Shaw
15. The Scottish National Party, Lynn Bennie and Craig McAngus
16. Smaller Parties, Alistair Clark
17. Religion and Political Parties, Graham Walker
18. Ethnic minorities and political citizenship in Scotland, Emma Hill and Nasar Meer
19. Green Politics, Antje Brown
Part 3 - Institutions and the Policy Process
20. Devolution, Malcolm Harvey
21. The Civil Service and Government Structures, Richard Parry
22. The Leadership and Management of Public Services Reform in Scotland, John Connolly and Robert Pyper
23. Interest Groups and Policy Communities, Iain MacLeod and Darren Halpin
24. Religion, Policy and Politics, Michael Rosie
25. The 'Scottish Approach to Policy Making', Paul Cairney
26. The Scottish Parliament, Emily St. Denny
27. The Political Class in Scotland, Michael Keating, Paul Cairney and Stefano Intropido
28. The Politics of Scotland's Public Finances, David Heald
Part 4 - Multilevel Politics
29. Local Government, Neil McGarvey
30. Intergovernmental Relations: two decades of cooperation, competition and constitutional change, Jim Gallagher
31. Scotland at Westminster, Adam Evans
32. Scotland International: Understanding Scotland's International Relations, Peter Lynch
33. Scotland and Europe, Kirsty Hughes
34. The Independence Question, Coree Brown Swan
35. The Independence Referendum of 2014: Issues and Outcome, Michael Keating and Nicola McEwen
Part 5 - Whither Scotland?
36. The State of Scotland, Neal Ascherson
37. Scotland, Britain and the Union, Ali M Ansari