A voluntary union? The aftermath of the 2014 vote and the establishment of a clear pathway for second Scottish Independence referendum

The Scottish Independence referendum of 2014 was hailed as a model exercise of democratic negotiation, deliberation and decision-making and is comparatively considered a paradigmatic example of a response by a liberal democratic state to a sub-state request for independence. In many ways, this process was a reflection of the UK’s unique constitutional framework and political context, where historically both the union nature of the state and its multinational reality were generally openly recognised and accepted. However, the aftermath of the 2014 referendum led to a shift in the approach of the UK Government to these questions, and it has therefore refused to follow its previous practice or engage with requests for a second referendum, despite the consistent pro-independence majority in the Scottish Parliament. This new context has left the Scottish Government with no available options to pursue and no clarity regarding what circumstances or procedure may enable such a referendum to go ahead in the future. As part of this set of reflections on “The Independence Referendum: A missed opportunity for Scottish Separatism?”, this article considers the uniqueness of the UK’s constitutional framework, which both facilitated the 2014 vote but at the same time has led to the current stalemate, and analyses how it can facilitate the establishment of a clear pathway to a second Scottish referendum in the future.