The SNP’s Conception of Scottish Society and Citizenship, 2007-2014

In a context where the Scottish National Party (SNP) has become the dominant party in Scotland, this article explores one aspect of the party’s ideology, namely its conception of Scottish society and citizenship, based on an analysis of the speeches made by Alex Salmond in the years 2007-2014, when he was both party leader and Scottish First Minister. The language of politics provides the focus for this article. Its purpose is threefold: first, to present the way in which the SNP named and labelled Scottish society in those pivotal years; second, to establish what these naming strategies revealed about the party’s conception of Scottish citizenship, nationalism and national identity; and third, to explain how this conception was made integral to its general political strategy and campaign for independence. The analysis shows that Scottish society and the Scottish people were portrayed in three, complementary ways: as the people who reside on the territory of Scotland, which is in keeping with the SNP’s “civic” nationalism and with its perception of Scottish citizenship as one that is based on residency rather than ancestry; as a “sovereign people” and as “the community of the realm of Scotland”, which bears testimony to the SNP’s exploitation of two powerful Scottish political myths; and as a social democratic society with a “shared sense of the common weal” which translates into support for universalist policies at odds with both Labour and the Conservatives’ policy choices. These visions of society and citizenship were all included in the SNP’s case for an independent social democratic Scottish State.