ABSTRACT
Chapter 6, “Scotland’s Festival of Democracy” looks at events surrounding the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. The official Scottish agenda was defined by a reluctance to tangle with the ambiguous and unruly energies of beginning. The government’s lead policy document, Scotland’s Future, articulated a vision for independence that stressed legal continuity and global relationships while downplaying the history of Scottish sovereignty claims or the possibility of a new declaration of independence. By folding the moment of independence into existing political and legal practice, the Scottish approach changes the relationship between law and constituent power and serves as a test case for lawful independence. Although the independence referendum was carefully designed to capture popular voice, the clarity celebrated in global constitutionalism is not easily delivered in practice. While the Scottish verdict on independence was muddied by the last-minute entry of a third political option, the “festival of democracy” surrounding the referendum suggests a spirit of public engagement that Arendt associates with political beginning.
