BibTeX
@MISC{Jones_devolutionand,
author = {Richard Wyn Jones and Roger Scully},
title = {Devolution and Electoral Politics in Scotland and Wales},
year = {}
}
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Abstract
In this article we examine the impact of devolution on electoral politics in Scotland and 5 Wales. After reviewing the electoral history of the two territories, we set out the result for the 1999 and 2003 devolved elections, noting the substantial differences between voting patterns in these elections from those for the UK parliament. We then go on to consider the main reasons why voting patterns differ across the two types of poll. The paper concludes by summarizing the main findings and then considering both the implications of the 10 findings for future devolved elections and the potential contribution of the study of such elections to broader theories of voting behavior. For all that—as discussed elsewhere in this issue—the United Kingdom has never approximated a classic unitary state, in terms of electoral politics it for a long time looked very much like one. With other electoral contests (for local government and, 15 since 1979, five-yearly elections for the United Kingdom’s representatives in the European Parliament) having only limited consequences, electoral politics were highly monocentric: for the major political parties, elections to the Westminster parliament were more or less the ‘‘only game in town,’ ’ and political parties in the United
Keyphrases
electoral politics electoral history voting pattern westminster parliament substantial difference united kingdom limited consequence potential contribution classic unitary state european parliament five-yearly election political party major political party electoral contest local government uk parliament long time main finding united kingdom representative main reason devolved election
