National Identities and Politics After Devolution

National Identities and Politics After Devolution Ross Bond & Michael Rosie University of Edinburgh ‘Measuring’ national identities in the UK: multiple choices Please say which, if any, of the words on this card describes the way you think of yourself. Please choose as many or as few as apply. African Asian British English European Irish Northern Irish Scottish Ulster Welsh Other None of these ‘Measuring’ national identities: ‘best’ or ‘forced’ choice Do you consider yourself to be British, Scottish, English, Irish, Welsh or something else ? OR And if you had to choose, which one best describes the way you think of yourself? (depends on year and location of study) • Provides single variable rather than series • But does not take account of dual identities • We can use the multiple choice measure to derive dual identities, but this does not represent relative importance of these identities. Hence… ‘Measuring’ national identities: scales Which, if any, of the following best describes how you see yourself? Scottish (English/Welsh) not British More Scottish (English/Welsh) than British Equally Scottish (English/Welsh) and British More British than Scottish (English/Welsh) British not Scottish (English/Welsh) Other description None of these ‘Measuring’ national identities: ‘key’ identities People differ in how they think of or describe themselves. If you had to pick just one thing from this list to describe yourself – something that is very important to you when you think of yourself, what would it be? And what would the second most important thing be? And what would the third most important thing be? ‘Measuring’ national identities: ‘key’ identities Working class British Elderly Woman/Man Not religious Wife/Husband Catholic Country person City person Protestant Mother/Father Middle class Black Retired Religious Scottish (or English etc.) Working person Young White Asian Unemployed Other None of these/no further answer Important caveats in the study of (national) ‘identities’ • Identities are multiple: different identities mobilised in different contexts? • Territorial identities: hierarchical or concentric • Same identity, different understandings • Use of the term ‘identity’ may itself be problematic BUT: • Well-established tradition of researching national identities in a ‘categorical’ fashion • Identities may subsume diversity and yet still be significant in themselves. • Problems with survey measures, but consistent patterns of difference between territories and consistent correlation with other variables Multiple choice national identities, 2003/2005 (2003 in Wales and N. Ireland; 2005 in England and Scotland) % British England 70 Scotland 52 Wales 56 N. Ireland 49 English Scottish Welsh Irish N. Irish N 60 2 1 2 1 3643 4 85 1 3 1 1549 13 1 70 2 * 988 1 1 * 30 33 1800 Best choice national identities, 2005 (2003 in Wales) England % British English Scottish Welsh Irish 48 40 1 1 1 Scotland % 14 2 77 1 1 Wales % 27 7 * 60 1 N. Ireland % 39 * * * 28 N. Irish N * 3643 * 1549 * 988 27 1200 ‘Moreno’ national identities (X = English, Scottish or Welsh) England 2003 % X not British 17 Scotland 2005 % 32 Wales 2003 % 21 More X than British Equally X and British More British than X British not X Other/none/dk N 19 31 13 10 10 1917 32 22 4 5 5 1549 27 29 8 9 6 988 Most important Identities % England 2003 Scotland 2005 Wales 2003 N. Ireland 2001 Parent Spouse Gender Working Class Working Person 48 30 26 24 30 45 25 24 27 24 50 30 20 22 29 49 35 43 34 11 British English, Scottish etc. Irish (N. Ireland only) N 27 21 1917 15 52 1508 22 39 988 14 14 13 1800 Consistency between different measures? • Salience of Scottish national identity compared to Welsh and (particularly) English identities • Britishness secondary for most in Scotland, and to some extent in Wales • In England, Britishness and Englishness more evenly balanced - if anything, Britishness somewhat more important • Dual identities prominent in all ‘British’ nations, but not in N. Ireland • But is there consistency over time, and has devolution made a difference? Multiple Choice identities, Scotland 1996-2005 100 80 60 40 20 0 BSA96 SES97 BSA98 SSA99 SSA00 SSA01 SSA02 SSA03 SSA04 SSA05 British Scottish Best/Forced Choice, Scotland 1979-2005 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 SES7 9 SES92 SES97 BSA98 SSA99 SSA00 SSA01 SSA02 SSA03 SSA04 SSA05 British Scottish ‘Moreno’, Scotland 1992-2005 100% 90% 80% 7 0% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% SES92 SES97 SSA99 SSA00 SSA01 SSA03 SSA05 Else B not S B> S S= B S> B S not B Multiple Choice identities, England 1996-2005 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 BSA96 BSA97 BSA98 BSA99 BSA00 BSA01 BSA02 BSA03 BSA04 BSA05 British English Best/Forced Choice, England 1979-2005 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 BES92 BES97 BSA98 BSA99 BSA00 BSA01 BSA02 BSA03 BSA04 BSA05 British English ‘Moreno’, England 1997-2005 1 00% 9 0% 80% 7 0% 6 0% 50% 4 0% 3 0% 2 0% 1 0% 0% BES9 7 BSA9 9 BSA00 BSA01 BSA03 BES05 Else B not E B> E E= B E> B E not B Multiple Choice identities, Wales 1996-2005 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 BSA96 WRS97 BSA98 BSA99 BSA00 WLT01 BSA02 WLT03 BSA04 BSA05 British Welsh Best/Forced Choice, Wales 1979-2005 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 WES7 9 BES92 BES97 BSA98 BSA99 BSA00 WLT01 BSA02 WLT03 BSA04 BSA05 British Welsh ‘Moreno’, Wales 1997-2005 1 00% 9 0% 80% 7 0% 6 0% 50% 4 0% 3 0% 2 0% 1 0% 0% WRS9 7 WLT9 9 WLT01 WLT03 BES05 Else B not W B> W W= B W> B W not B National identities and political attitudes in England, 2005 English only % Party i.d. Labour Conservative 36 30 38 29 43 23 Eng. & Brit. % British only % Lib. Dem. Constitution Westminster English Parl. Reg. Assemblies N 10 53 20 21 774 15 54 18 24 1411 14 57 18 16 1145 National identities and political attitudes in Scotland, 2005 Scot. only % Party i.d. Labour 33 41 26 Scot. + Brit. % Brit. only % Conservative Lib. Dem. SNP Constitution Devolution Independence No Scottish Parliament N 10 11 19 35 44 10 660 16 14 9 50 30 16 658 30 16 4 51 18 22 156 National identities and political attitudes in Wales, 2003 Welsh only % Party i.d. Labour Conservative Lib. Dem. Plaid Cymru Constitution Welsh Parliament 42 36 29 Welsh + Brit % 49 18 11 8 Brit. only % 35 31 11 2 50 9 5 18 Welsh Assembly Independence No Welsh Assembly N 19 19 15 354 29 10 20 335 31 5 32 226 National identities and political attitudes in N. Ireland, 2003 British only % Irish only % Neither % Party i.d. Ulster Unionist DUP SDLP Sinn Fein Constitution 32 28 4 * 1 * 38 32 12 9 17 6 NI Parliament NI Assembly Independence Westminster Irish Unification N 40 32 5 16 2 845 13 6 11 6 51 455 28 17 14 12 11 439 Conclusions • Evident consistencies between different measures of national identities and, to a degree, over time - albeit with notable fluctuations • Contrasts in identities between territories suggests potential basis for constitutional instability, but no obvious post-devolution shifts • Evidence of direct political significance also inconclusive: weak association between identities and attitudes in England and substantial ‘non-alignment’ in Scotland and Wales. In Northern Ireland, despite stronger alignment and less consensus, alternatives to devolution seem unlikely • Overall, national identities in UK show significant patterns of variation and political significance but unlikely to provide basis for radical constitutional change.