"How much independence can a small country like Scotland have? Political debate assumes that Scottish independence ended three centuries ago when the last Scottish parliament dissolved itself into the first parliament of Great Britain. But the reality of independence for small nations has less to do with formal sovereignty than with the institutions of civil society. And this book examines Scotland's actual autonomy, comparing it with other small countries and federal states in Europe and North America to show that it has had at least as much independence as most." "Nevertheless, the nature of this independence changes frequently. Nationalists have successfully challenged old forms of autonomy. But pragmatic unionists have influenced the outcome of these protests, negotiating workable compromises with England and the wider world to place Scotland in the mainstream of small nation development. And despite claims to the contrary, this will remain true whether or not a Scottish parliament is set up in the 1990s. A parliament will not be the radical departure which its supporters hope and its opponents fear, but merely be the latest compromise between nationalist assertion and unionist caution.

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