Scottish Devolution: Autonomy at its Limits?

Scotland is a small nation, located on the northern half of the island of Great Britain. The territory and historic borders of Scotland have been remarkably stable over time. In recent years, Scottish political life has been consumed by questions of independence, the establishment of an independent Scottish state, or remaining within the United Kingdom. In 2014, a referendum was held on the question of Scottish independence. Although the proposal was rejected by 55% of the population, the issue of Scotland’s constitutional future remains a live one, with far-reaching implications for both Scotland and the UK. Assertions of national identity are important to Scottish political life. Changes have been identified in the way in which people articulate their identities in recent years, with a greater proportion, depending on the question asked, expressing a more explicit Scottish identity. However, this Scottish identity often sits quite comfortably alongside British one (McCrone 2020, 27). On forced choice questions, in which respondents are asked to identify a single identity, we see a decline of British identities in Scotland from the 1970s onwards. When the question was asked in 1979, around 40% of the population opted for a British rather than Scottish identity. This fell below 30% in the years leading up to devolution and currently sits at around 20%.

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https://www.world-autonomies.info/territorial-autonomies/scotland