ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the modern political history of Scotland, with the focus on points of political change since the late nineteenth century. It is important to delve into a slightly longer period than the recent past in order to understand some of the key themes, such as the history of unionism or the way in which Scotland has been governed within the United Kingdom in the period before the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. The chapter focuses on the different political traditions in Scottish political history and emphasises that the polarisation evident in the referendum campaign masks significant ways in which unionism. It also looks at the rise of nationalism as a force within Scottish politics that goes beyond the history of the Scottish National Party (SNP). The SNP was able to come forward with more convincing economic ideas due to the discovery of oil reserves in the North Sea.
