THE CONSTITUTIONAL FUTURE OF SCOTLAND AND THE UNITED KINGDOM

"This programme of research will examine the options for Scottish constitutional change, including independence, and their implications for the future of the UK and Scotland. It will provide evidence to help inform voter understanding of the key issues ahead of the independence referendum to be held in September 2014, and of the significance and consequences of the referendum result. In the longer term, it will develop a research centre involving academics from political science, economics and law to strengthen the capacity for the generation of new knowledge on the social, economic and political challenges associated with constitutional change.

The proposal builds upon existing research, including some investments already supported by the ESRC Future of the UK and Scotland. It includes two projects within each of the four themes of the programme - relations beyond Scotland, the economy, governance, and future Scotland. Research on citizen and elite behaviour cuts across each of these themes. The projects all address consequences of rescaling, that is, the migration of economic, social and political systems to new levels, which are connected in complex ways. Whatever the outcome of the referendum, Scotland's constitutional future will develop within a series of overarching 'unions' within the British Isles, the European Union and beyond. These will place some constraints on what a Scottish - and UK - government could do under all constitutional scenarios.

The research employs legal analysis, political and policy analysis, economic modeling and behavioural analysis to explore the implications of different constitutional options. Each project includes collaboration between scholars from different disciplines. There are surveys of citizena and business leaders survey to ascertain responses to situations of partial knowledge, risk and uncertainty, and their ranking of preferences. The use of comparison also runs through the projects. Analysis of the future of Scotland in the UK provides case study of the broader transformations of the state in modern times. The inter-related nature of the projects is a key feature of the proposal, with preliminary findings from projects feeding into the development of the research in others, and so on. Findings from the will be used to inform understanding among the public, policy-makers and the media, through a range of user-focused activities, as well as to generate new knowledge to advance understanding of the dynamics of constitutional change."