Scottish Independence White Paper - Top Tips for Inclusion

Tomorrow (Tuesday 26th November) sees the publication of the Scottish Government's white paper concerning Independence. As politics students living the subject this is a great example for your Politics A Level. This issue of Scottish Independence covers all sorts of concepts from national sovereignty, political ideology, elections and referendums. Be sure you know the story inside and out and how to apply it effectively! Read on for more on how to do so.

The debate around Scottish Independence will only intensify between now and the referendum on 18th September 2014. As a result it will come to dominate headlines for the Summer 2014 Exam series. Thereforeyou should swat up on the subject and look to include references to the independence issue in your exam answers to back up the points you are making.

Referendums: (GOVP1)
There is no better place to include Scottish independence than here. It is another example of a referendum that you can add to your collection including AV and Devolution. When analysing it you could focus on the timing of the referendum to occur during a season of national pride for Scotland with the 2014 Commonwealth Games and The 2014 Ryder Cup, both sporting championships which will undoubtedly bolster national sentiments for Scotland. You can also look at the question wording as the Scottish government had to change the original wording as it may lead people to vote yes. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-20512743 for more information on that.

Constitutionlism: (GOVP2)
Britain as I'm sure you are aware by now does not have a codified constitution. An independent Scotland on the other hand is highly likely to do so. Use this in your answers, not necessarily directly as a comparison but as a significant point of evaluation at the end, showing off your political knowledge! Just brilliant!

Multilevel Governance: (GOVP2)
The issue of independence fits nicely into the catagories of Multi Level governance as you can talk about the relationship between Westminster and Holyrood quite easily, starting with devolution and finishing with the campaign for independence. It is the Conservative Party which believes that devolution is the slippery slope to independence. In addition to the relationship you can also bring it into an answer on the European Union, about the future of it, will Scotland automatically become part of the EU?. Finally on this point you could bring in a mention to the idea of a Sterling Zone in which Scotland still uses the Pound Sterling, does this present a political problem for an independent Scotland which can't control its own Monetary Policy?

Political Ideologies: (GOV3B)
Here its a little harder to get the independence issue in but it is not impossible. You could for example reference the anti devolution, pro union stance of conservatism and reflect that the break up of the Union is in essence anti conservtive. Answers could also come in the form for socialism, through the ideas of fraternity and solidarity (A bit far fetched I know!). Finally with this you could reflect on the anti nuclear option for Scotland which you could equate to ideologies

Government of the United States of America (GOV4A)
Here you can include independence in answers surrounding Constituionalism. This could make up a synoptic link the course, relating back to GOVP2. While in this unit you would contrast to the UK's uncodified constitution you could make a reference to the Scottish idea of a codified constitution.

Further Reading:

Obviously the debate will get clearer (hopefully) as we move towards the 18th September but for the moment here is a selection of reading which you could undertake to ensure you know about the debate to be not only informed but also able to apply the evidence appropriately.

Will the White Paper make a difference (Guardian)

Guardian Special Reports

BBC Special Report: Scotland's Future

Scottish Independence White Paper

Telegraph Scottish Politics Section*

Better Together Campaign

Yes Scotland Campaign

Scott is a student of Politics and History at Newcastle University