A Nationalism-Social Policy Nexus: Criticism of the “Bedroom Tax” and Legitimatisation of Scottish Independence

Abstract

The Scottish independence referendum in 2014 has been widely studied. However, studies exploring how the Scottish Government, led by the Scottish National Party, legitimatised Scottish independence are relatively scarce. Building on a concept, “nationalism-social policy nexus”, developed by Daniel Béland and André Lecours, and analysis of a government white paper Scotland’s Future as well as speeches by the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, the way in which the Scottish Government legitimatised Scottish independence by criticising the “bedroom tax”, which was introduced by the Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition government in April 2013, is demonstrated.