Publication

In light of the Conservative Party’s victory in the UK's 2015 Parliamentary election, this paper contends that British politics is now increasingly defined by two different kinds of "exceptionalism": a push within the UK for self-government outside of the EU, and Scottish demands for self-government within the UK. He argues that while neither the breakup of the UK nor a British exit (Brexit) of the EU is inevitable, if they do occur it will be because of misplaced belief in the nostrum of self-government.