Download or read book The Fight for Scottish Democracy written by Murray Armstrong and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brand-new history of Scotland's radical war for democracy in 1820.
Download or read book The Scottish Invention of America Democracy and Human Rights written by Alexander Leslie Klieforth and published by University Press of America. This book was released on 2004 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Scottish Invention of America, Democracy and Human Rights is a history of liberty from 1300 BC to 2004 AD. The book traces the history of the philosophy and fight for freedom from the ancient Celts to the medieval Scots to the Scottish Enlightenment to the creation of America. The work contends that the roots of liberty originated in the radical political thought of the ancient Celts, the Scots' struggle for freedom, John Duns Scotus and the Scottish declaration of independence (Arbroath, 1320) that were the primary basis of the American Declaration of Independence and the modern human rights movement.
Download or read book Security in a Small Nation written by Andrew W. Neal and published by Open Book Publishers. This book was released on 2017-03-15 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2014 Referendum on Scottish independence sparked debate on every dimension of modern statehood. Levels of public interest and engagement were unprecedented, as demonstrated by record-breaking voter turnout. Yet aside from Trident, the issue of security was relatively neglected in the campaigns, and there remains a lack of literature on the topic. In this volume Andrew Neal has collated a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives on security and constitutional change in Scotland and the UK, including writing from experts in foreign policy analysis, intelligence studies, parliamentary studies, and journalism. Security in a Small Nation provides an illuminating analysis of the politics of security. Its authors reflect on a number of related issues including international comparisons, alliances, regional cooperation, terrorism, intelligence sharing, democratic oversight, and media coverage. It has a particular focus on what security means for small states and democratic politics. The book draws on current debates about the extent of intelligence powers and their implications for accountability, privacy, and human rights. It examines the foreign and security policy of other small states through the prism of Scottish independence, providing unique insight into the bureaucratic and political processes associated with multi-level security governance. These contributions provide a detailed picture of the changing landscape of security, including the role of diverse and decentralised agencies, and new security interdependencies within and between states. The analysis presented in this book will inform ongoing constitutional debates in the UK and the study of other secessionist movements around the world. Security in a Small Nation is essential reading for any follower of UK and Scottish politics, and those with an interest in security and nationhood on a global scale.
Download or read book Born Fighting written by Jim Webb and published by Crown. This book was released on 2005-10-11 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his first work of nonfiction, bestselling novelist James Webb tells the epic story of the Scots-Irish, a people whose lives and worldview were dictated by resistance, conflict, and struggle, and who, in turn, profoundly influenced the social, political, and cultural landscape of America from its beginnings through the present day. More than 27 million Americans today can trace their lineage to the Scots, whose bloodline was stained by centuries of continuous warfare along the border between England and Scotland, and later in the bitter settlements of England’s Ulster Plantation in Northern Ireland. Between 250,000 and 400,000 Scots-Irish migrated to America in the eighteenth century, traveling in groups of families and bringing with them not only long experience as rebels and outcasts but also unparalleled skills as frontiersmen and guerrilla fighters. Their cultural identity reflected acute individualism, dislike of aristocracy and a military tradition, and, over time, the Scots-Irish defined the attitudes and values of the military, of working class America, and even of the peculiarly populist form of American democracy itself. Born Fighting is the first book to chronicle the full journey of this remarkable cultural group, and the profound, but unrecognized, role it has played in the shaping of America. Written with the storytelling verve that has earned his works such acclaim as “captivating . . . unforgettable” (the Wall Street Journal on Lost Soliders), Scots-Irishman James Webb, Vietnam combat veteran and former Naval Secretary, traces the history of his people, beginning nearly two thousand years ago at Hadrian’s Wall, when the nation of Scotland was formed north of the Wall through armed conflict in contrast to England’s formation to the south through commerce and trade. Webb recounts the Scots’ odyssey—their clashes with the English in Scotland and then in Ulster, their retreat from one war-ravaged land to another. Through engrossing chronicles of the challenges the Scots-Irish faced, Webb vividly portrays how they developed the qualities that helped settle the American frontier and define the American character. Born Fighting shows that the Scots-Irish were 40 percent of the Revolutionary War army; they included the pioneers Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark, Davy Crockett, and Sam Houston; they were the writers Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain; and they have given America numerous great military leaders, including Stonewall Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Audie Murphy, and George S. Patton, as well as most of the soldiers of the Confederacy (only 5 percent of whom owned slaves, and who fought against what they viewed as an invading army). It illustrates how the Scots-Irish redefined American politics, creating the populist movement and giving the country a dozen presidents, including Andrew Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. And it explores how the Scots-Irish culture of isolation, hard luck, stubbornness, and mistrust of the nation’s elite formed and still dominates blue-collar America, the military services, the Bible Belt, and country music. Both a distinguished work of cultural history and a human drama that speaks straight to the heart of contemporary America, Born Fighting reintroduces America to its most powerful, patriotic, and individualistic cultural group—one too often ignored or taken for granted.
Download or read book The Case for Scottish Independence written by Ben Jackson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-09 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces the development of the ideology of modern Scottish nationalism from the 1960s to the independence referendum in 2014.
Download or read book How the Scots Invented the Modern World written by Arthur Herman and published by Crown. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exciting account of the origins of the modern world Who formed the first literate society? Who invented our modern ideas of democracy and free market capitalism? The Scots. As historian and author Arthur Herman reveals, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Scotland made crucial contributions to science, philosophy, literature, education, medicine, commerce, and politics—contributions that have formed and nurtured the modern West ever since. Herman has charted a fascinating journey across the centuries of Scottish history. Here is the untold story of how John Knox and the Church of Scotland laid the foundation for our modern idea of democracy; how the Scottish Enlightenment helped to inspire both the American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution; and how thousands of Scottish immigrants left their homes to create the American frontier, the Australian outback, and the British Empire in India and Hong Kong. How the Scots Invented the Modern World reveals how Scottish genius for creating the basic ideas and institutions of modern life stamped the lives of a series of remarkable historical figures, from James Watt and Adam Smith to Andrew Carnegie and Arthur Conan Doyle, and how Scottish heroes continue to inspire our contemporary culture, from William “Braveheart” Wallace to James Bond. And no one who takes this incredible historical trek will ever view the Scots—or the modern West—in the same way again.
Download or read book The UK s Changing Democracy written by Patrick Dunleavy and published by LSE Press. This book was released on 2018-11-01 with total page 521 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The UK’s Changing Democracy presents a uniquely democratic perspective on all aspects of UK politics, at the centre in Westminster and Whitehall, and in all the devolved nations. The 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU marked a turning point in the UK’s political system. In the previous two decades, the country had undergone a series of democratic reforms, during which it seemed to evolve into a more typical European liberal democracy. The establishment of a Supreme Court, adoption of the Human Rights Act, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish devolution, proportional electoral systems, executive mayors and the growth in multi-party competition all marked profound changes to the British political tradition. Brexit may now bring some of these developments to a juddering halt. The UK’s previous ‘exceptionalism’ from European patterns looks certain to continue indefinitely. ‘Taking back control’ of regulations, trade, immigration and much more is the biggest change in UK governance for half a century. It has already produced enduring crises for the party system, Parliament and the core executive, with uniquely contested governance over critical issues, and a rapidly changing political landscape. Other recent trends are no less fast-moving, such as the revival of two-party dominance in England, the re-creation of some mass membership parties and the disruptive challenges of social media. In this context, an in-depth assessment of the quality of the UK’s democracy is essential. Each of the 2018 Democratic Audit’s 37 short chapters starts with clear criteria for what democracy requires in that part of the nation’s political life and outlines key recent developments before a SWOT analysis (of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) crystallises the current situation. A small number of core issues are then explored in more depth. Set against the global rise of debased semi-democracies, the book’s approach returns our focus firmly to the big issues around the quality and sustainability of the UK’s liberal democracy.
Download or read book Story of the Scottish Parliament written by Hassan Gerry Hassan and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2019-07-01 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marking the first twenty years of the Scottish Parliament, this collection of essays assesses its impact on Scotland, the UK and Europe, and compares progress against pre-devolution hopes and expectations. Bringing together the voices of ministers and advisers, leading political scientists and historians, commentators, journalists and former civil servants, it builds an authoritative account of what the Scottish Parliament has made of devolution and an essential guide to the powers Holyrood may need for Scotland to flourish in an increasingly uncertain world.
Download or read book Independence written by Alasdair Gray and published by Canongate Books. This book was released on 2014-06-12 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gray argues that a truly independent Scotland will only ever exist when people in every home, school, croft, farm, workshop, factory, island, glen, town and city feel that they too are at the centre of the world. Independence asks whether widespread social welfare is more possible in small nations such as Norway and New Zealand than in big ones like Britain and the U.S.A. It describes the many differences between Scotland and England. It examines the people who choose to live north of the border. It shows Scotland's relevance to the rest of the world. It attempts to conjure a vision of how a Scots parliament might benefit the people of this small but dynamic nation. And it tells how democracy will only truly succeed when every person believes that their vote will make a difference.
Download or read book The Scottish Insurrection of 1820 written by Peter Berresford Ellis and published by John Donald. This book was released on 2001 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recapturing the desperation of the people & the extraordinary heroism of the radical leaders, this book offers an incisive analysis of the Scottish Insurrection of 1820 & the events that led up to it.
Download or read book Scots and the Spanish Civil War written by Raeburn Fraser Raeburn and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-25 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few causes before or since have inspired such passion, determination and sacrifice than the Spanish Civil War (1936-9). This book explores the many ways in which Scots responded to the war in Spain, covering the activists and humanitarians who raised funds and awareness at home, as well as the hundreds of Scots who journeyed to Spain to fight as part of the International Brigades. Their stories reflect much larger narratives of the rise of European fascism, the networks and cultures of international communism and the wider modern phenomenon of transnational foreign fighters.Scots and the Spanish Civil War is a groundbreaking study of Scottish involvement in one of the 20th century's most famous and divisive conflicts, drawing on newly-declassified government documents and international archives in Spain and beyond. As well as shedding new light on Scottish politics in the 1930s, Fraser Raeburn argues that this case study - part of the largest wave of foreign war volunteering in the 20th century - can help us understand other such mobilisations, past and present.
Download or read book Edinburgh Companion to the History of Democracy written by Benjamin Isakhan and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2015-03-24 with total page 577 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Re-examines the long and complex history of democracy and broadens the traditional view of this history by complementing it with examples from unexplored or under-examined quarters.
Download or read book Timescapes of Waiting written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-08-26 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Timescapes of Waiting explores the intersections of temporality and space by examining various manifestations of spatial (im-)mobility. The individual articles approach these spaces from a variety of academic perspectives – including the realms of history, architecture, law and literary and cultural studies – in order to probe the fluid relationships between power, time and space. The contributors offer discussion and analysis of waiting spaces like ante-chambers, prisons, hospitals, and refugee camps, and also of more elusive spaces such as communities and nation-states. Contributors: Olaf Berwald, Elise Brault-Dreux, Richard Hardack, Kerstin Howaldt, Robin Kellermann, Amanda Lagji, Margaret Olin, Helmut Puff, Katrin Röder, Christoph Singer, Cornelia Wächter, Robert Wirth.
Download or read book Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot written by John Lloyd and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2020-03-24 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Scottish nationalists seek to end the United Kingdom after 300 years of a successful union. Their drive for an independent Scotland is now nearer to success than it has ever been. Success would mean a diminished Britain and a perilously insecure Scotland. The nationalists have represented the three centuries of union with England as a malign and damaging association for Scotland. The European Union is held out as an alternative and a safeguard for Scotland's future. But the siren call of secession would lure Scotland into a state of radical instability, disrupting ties of work, commerce and kinship and impoverishing the economy. All this with no guarantee of growth in an EU now struggling with a downturn in most of its states and the increasing disaffection of many of its members. In this incisive and controversial book, journalist John Lloyd cuts through the rhetoric to show that the economic plans of the Scottish National Party are deeply unrealistic; the loss of a subsidy of as much as £10 billion a year from the Treasury would mean large-scale cuts, much deeper than those effected by Westminster; the broadly equal provision of health, social services, education and pensions across the UK would cease, leaving Scotland with the need to recreate many of these systems on its own; and the claim that Scotland would join the most successful of the world's small states - as Denmark, New Zealand and Norway - is no more than an aspiration with little prospect of success. The alternative to independence is clear: a strong devolution settlement and a joint reform of the British union to modernise the UK's age-old structures, reduce the centralisation of power and boost the ability of all Britain's nations and regions to support and unleash their creative and productive potential. Scotland has remained a nation in union with three other nations - England, Northern Ireland and Wales. It will continue as one, more securely in a familiar companionship.
Download or read book The Politics of Radical Democracy written by Adrian Little and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses the idea of radical democracy and, in particular, its poststructuralist articulation. It analyses the approach to radical democracy taken by a number of contemporary theorists and political commentators.
Download or read book American Political History A Very Short Introduction written by Donald T. Critchlow and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-01-14 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Founding Fathers who drafted the United States Constitution in 1787 distrusted political parties, popular democracy, centralized government, and a strong executive office. Yet the country's national politics have historically included all those features. In American Political History: A Very Short Introduction, Donald Critchlow takes on this contradiction between original theory and actual practice. This brief, accessible book explores the nature of the two-party system, key turning points in American political history, representative presidential and congressional elections, struggles to expand the electorate, and critical social protest and third-party movements. The volume emphasizes the continuity of a liberal tradition challenged by partisan divide, war, and periodic economic turmoil. American Political History: A Very Short Introduction explores the emergence of a democratic political culture within a republican form of government, showing the mobilization and extension of the mass electorate over the lifespan of the country. In a nation characterized by great racial, ethnic, and religious diversity, American democracy has proven extraordinarily durable. Individual parties have risen and fallen, but the dominance of the two-party system persists. Fierce debates over the meaning of the U.S. Constitution have created profound divisions within the parties and among voters, but a belief in the importance of constitutional order persists among political leaders and voters. Americans have been deeply divided about the extent of federal power, slavery, the meaning of citizenship, immigration policy, civil rights, and a range of economic, financial, and social policies. New immigrants, racial minorities, and women have joined the electorate and the debates. But American political history, with its deep social divisions, bellicose rhetoric, and antagonistic partisanship provides valuable lessons about the meaning and viability of democracy in the early 21st century. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Download or read book Politics in Scotland written by Duncan McTavish and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-06-23 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Politics in Scotland is an authoritative introduction to the contemporary political landscape in Scotland and an essential text for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Scottish Politics. Written by leading experts in the field, it is coherently organised to provide a clear and comprehensive overview of a range of themes in contemporary Scottish Politics. Key topics include: • Government and electoral behaviour. • Representation and political parties in Scotland. • Public policy and Scotland’s relationship with the rest of the world. • Scottish politics both in the run up to and after the 2014 referendum. • The Future of Scottish government and politics. This textbook will be essential reading for students of Scottish politics, British Politics, devolution, government and policy.
