On the eve of a vote that could trigger independence after 307 years, Scotland has become a hot topic in the media. What would happen if the vote swings "yes"? Or what would be the consequences if a "no" vote rules?
It's interesting to listen to Americans try to explain tomorrow's Scottish vote to each other. We don't even have a common, settled understanding of the nature of the existing union, and therefore we have a hard time judging what is being proposed.
I'm not sure it really makes sense to talk about Scotland "throwing off the yolk of England". This was, after all, a union of mutual consent. But it's also a little different from the disunion we fought over during the Civil War. First off, because there will be no fight, and second because there's no single overriding issue, and third, because Scotland does not sit in exactly the same relationship to England as our North and South did to one another. So if it's not one thing, and it's also not another, what is it?
What do you think? Aye or nay? Comment below, email Colin@wnpr.org, or tweet @wnprcolin.
GUESTS:
- John Curtice of the University of Strathclyde is the President of the British Polling Council, and is Chief Commentator at WhatScotlandThinks.org
- Harriet Jones is the business reporter for WNPR, and a Scotland native
- Robert McLaughlin is a lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Hartford
- Rebecca Castellani is a Nose panelist currently attending the University of Edinburgh
- David McCrone is an Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh
