The rise and decline of the Scottish National Party: Ethnic politics in a post‐industrial environment

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Abstract
The Scottish National Party [SNP] was one of several ethnoregional political parties that experienced a rapid electoral rise and decline between the late 1960s and late 1980s. The rise of the SNP was dependent on a combination of economic, political, and organizational factors. Prior to the rise of the SNP the Scottish electorate experienced a dealignment as a result of improved communications and education as well as extensive social mobility. Dealigned voters turned to the SNP because an increase in emphasis among the major parties on Scottish regional concerns highlighted the independence plank of the SNP. These factors resulted in nearly uniform support for the SNP across classes. The decline of the SNP was the result of three factors. First, the defeat of the devolution referendum removed the issue of independence from the arena of political debate. Second, the increasing disunity within the SNP after 1974 led to splits over social and economic issues. Third, the party moved to the left, alienating some of its conservative supporters. The SNP's rapid rise and decline appears to foreshadow only limited success for ethnoregional parties in industrial democracies. These parties, like other post‐industrial political movements, lack an integrated social network and a flexible political agenda, limiting their ability to compete with established political institutions firmly rooted in older industrial political cleavages.