Political Discourse and National Identity in Scotland

Uses manifesto analysis to measure political nationalism in Scotland. Murray Stewart Leith and Daniel P. J. Soule explore the importance of groups, concepts and events such as the SNP and devolution, unionism, the political elite, political and public discourse, inclusion and exclusion, enforced nationalism, and birth, race and citizenship to nationalist feeling in Scotland. The authors set the Modernist view of Scottish nationalism against the work of Gellner, Anderson and Billig to create their own 'mixed method' of evaluating nationalism. This title presents a detailed consideration of the language used within the political and nationalist arena in Scotland. It compares a variety of attitudes and opinions held within Scotland from the political elite to the masses. It introduces a new method for measuring political nationalism using manifesto analysis.

A clear, precise, observant, politically nuanced analysis of the many different kinds of nationalism and national identity in Scotland, the ways they are expressed and the political behaviour to which they give rise. This book is a treat, and an education too.--Murray Pittock, author of 'The Road to Independence?', A very timely contribution to the deliberation of Scottishness, Scottish identity and Scottish nationalism in the second decade of the twenty-first century.--Atsuko Ichijo, Kingston University "Nations and Nationalism 18 (4), 2012 ", Leith and Soule's work, given how solitary it is on the market, will prove most important in the next few years when it is assumed the campaign for an independent Scotland will accelerate.--British Politics and Policy at LSE Blog

Murray Stewart Leith is Lecturer in Politics at the University of the West of Scotland. Daniel P. J. Soule is Lecturer in Academic Writing in the Caledonian Graduate Centre at Glasgow Caledonian University.