Constitutional Change in Scotland
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 May 2025
This chapter tackles MacCormick’s lifelong engagement with and reflection on nationalism, including both in terms of how he lived it politically and how he philosophised it. It situates MacCormick’s nationalism in the historiography of Scottish nationalism, resisting attempts to frame the field on the basis of either pro- or anti-independence views. MacCormick’s nationalism cannot be shoehorned in this way. Instead, the chapter explores MacCormick’s particular kind of nationalism by reference to its relation to time – e.g., in the form of gradualism – as well as how he reflected on the constitutional importance of the Union of 1707. It also considers how MacCormick conceptualised nationalism – as liberal and civic – and how this was explored both in his philosophical work as well as in his political life, e.g., in his various campaigns as SNP candidate in Westminster elections. The chapter also considers MacCormick’s contributions to the SNP’s Constitutional Policy Committee, and in particular his work on the Draft Constitution for a Future Independent Scotland. In so doing, the chapter examines how MacCormick’s nationalism and constitutionalism can be read as a matter of character.
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