The Strange Case of the Scottish Independence Referendum. Some Elements of Comparison between the Scottish and Catalan Cases
The Scottish independence referendum of 18 September 2014 was rather unique from an international perspective, as a comparison between the cases of Scotland and Catalonia clearly reveals. Contrary to its Catalan equivalent, the Scottish referendum was perfectly legal and accepted by London, though L...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Centre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique
2015-07-01
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| Series: | Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/384 |
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| author | Nathalie Duclos |
| author_facet | Nathalie Duclos |
| author_sort | Nathalie Duclos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Scottish independence referendum of 18 September 2014 was rather unique from an international perspective, as a comparison between the cases of Scotland and Catalonia clearly reveals. Contrary to its Catalan equivalent, the Scottish referendum was perfectly legal and accepted by London, though London could have blocked it by legal and constitutional means. Two reasons explain this. First, Scotland is seen as having a right to self-determination as one of the nations of the multinational UK (whereas Catalonia is not considered as a nation by Madrid). Secondly, the British political class believes in the political doctrine of the mandate, according to which, by winning a total majority of seats in the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections, the SNP won a mandate to organise an independence referendum. This led to a political deal (known as the Edinburgh Agreement) between Edinburgh and London. By contrast, the relations between Catalonia and the central Spanish institutions are governed by constitutional conflict. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b550a1b916974f9c8e3f9a3a18c646e2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0248-9015 2429-4373 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2015-07-01 |
| publisher | Centre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique |
| spelling | doaj-art-b550a1b916974f9c8e3f9a3a18c646e22024-12-09T15:27:32ZengCentre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation BritanniqueRevue Française de Civilisation Britannique0248-90152429-43732015-07-0120210.4000/rfcb.384The Strange Case of the Scottish Independence Referendum. Some Elements of Comparison between the Scottish and Catalan CasesNathalie DuclosThe Scottish independence referendum of 18 September 2014 was rather unique from an international perspective, as a comparison between the cases of Scotland and Catalonia clearly reveals. Contrary to its Catalan equivalent, the Scottish referendum was perfectly legal and accepted by London, though London could have blocked it by legal and constitutional means. Two reasons explain this. First, Scotland is seen as having a right to self-determination as one of the nations of the multinational UK (whereas Catalonia is not considered as a nation by Madrid). Secondly, the British political class believes in the political doctrine of the mandate, according to which, by winning a total majority of seats in the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections, the SNP won a mandate to organise an independence referendum. This led to a political deal (known as the Edinburgh Agreement) between Edinburgh and London. By contrast, the relations between Catalonia and the central Spanish institutions are governed by constitutional conflict.https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/384ScotlandCataloniaindependence referendumself-determination |
| spellingShingle | Nathalie Duclos The Strange Case of the Scottish Independence Referendum. Some Elements of Comparison between the Scottish and Catalan Cases Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique Scotland Catalonia independence referendum self-determination |
| title | The Strange Case of the Scottish Independence Referendum. Some Elements of Comparison between the Scottish and Catalan Cases |
| title_full | The Strange Case of the Scottish Independence Referendum. Some Elements of Comparison between the Scottish and Catalan Cases |
| title_fullStr | The Strange Case of the Scottish Independence Referendum. Some Elements of Comparison between the Scottish and Catalan Cases |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Strange Case of the Scottish Independence Referendum. Some Elements of Comparison between the Scottish and Catalan Cases |
| title_short | The Strange Case of the Scottish Independence Referendum. Some Elements of Comparison between the Scottish and Catalan Cases |
| title_sort | strange case of the scottish independence referendum some elements of comparison between the scottish and catalan cases |
| topic | Scotland Catalonia independence referendum self-determination |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/384 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nathalieduclos thestrangecaseofthescottishindependencereferendumsomeelementsofcomparisonbetweenthescottishandcatalancases AT nathalieduclos strangecaseofthescottishindependencereferendumsomeelementsofcomparisonbetweenthescottishandcatalancases |