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Constitution or competence? The SNP's re-election in 2011

Constitution or competence? The SNP's re-election in 2011
Constitution or competence? The SNP's re-election in 2011

The Scottish National Party's outright win in the Scottish Parliament election on 5 May 2011 confounded pre-election polls and commentaries as well as a (broadly) proportional electoral system which was held to minimise the risk of a Nationalist majority moving Scotland to independence. But an extraordinary result in historical context looks much more ordinary when we explore voters' attitudes and choices. According to data from the ESRC-funded Scottish Election Study 2011, the SNP won its majority for that most mundane of electoral reasons: most voters thought that the party would do a better job in office than its rivals, including its chief rival, the Labour Party.

Elections, Labour Party, Scottish National Party, Scottish Parliament, Valence
0032-3217
158-178
Johns, Robert
02861bc9-b704-49b1-bbc7-cf1c1e9b7a35
Mitchell, James
0c4ca906-da8c-4d12-b288-0b72a194fc2e
Carman, Christopher J.
c62d237b-85a0-43ff-8e49-87e908bfbe5e
Johns, Robert
02861bc9-b704-49b1-bbc7-cf1c1e9b7a35
Mitchell, James
0c4ca906-da8c-4d12-b288-0b72a194fc2e
Carman, Christopher J.
c62d237b-85a0-43ff-8e49-87e908bfbe5e

Johns, Robert, Mitchell, James and Carman, Christopher J. (2013) Constitution or competence? The SNP's re-election in 2011. Political Studies, 61 (S1), 158-178. (doi:10.1111/1467-9248.12016).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The Scottish National Party's outright win in the Scottish Parliament election on 5 May 2011 confounded pre-election polls and commentaries as well as a (broadly) proportional electoral system which was held to minimise the risk of a Nationalist majority moving Scotland to independence. But an extraordinary result in historical context looks much more ordinary when we explore voters' attitudes and choices. According to data from the ESRC-funded Scottish Election Study 2011, the SNP won its majority for that most mundane of electoral reasons: most voters thought that the party would do a better job in office than its rivals, including its chief rival, the Labour Party.

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More information

Published date: April 2013
Keywords: Elections, Labour Party, Scottish National Party, Scottish Parliament, Valence

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 489780
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/489780
ISSN: 0032-3217
PURE UUID: 36c78fe7-298f-4d15-9954-d163417ad74b
ORCID for Robert Johns: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4543-7463

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Date deposited: 02 May 2024 16:36
Last modified: 03 May 2024 02:07

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Contributors

Author: Robert Johns ORCID iD
Author: James Mitchell
Author: Christopher J. Carman

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