Abstrakt
The rise of the decentralisation or devolution reforms in Europe in the past decades brought scholars' attention to the voting behaviour in multi-level electoral systems. Some elections might be considered less important (such as local and regional elections) for voters in a multi-level system than others.
However, in some regions, the political importance of the sub-state level of governance is rising, which might lead voters to change their approach to the regional elections. Since the first Scottish regional elections in 1999, the parliament has changed significantly: it gained many new powers, which made it one of the most powerful regional parliaments in Europe.
The paper reviews the main differences between general and regional elections in Scotland. The analysis focus on turnout in both elections, the success of small and regional parties, the change of support for government and opposition parties and the main campaign topics.
This review should show whether Scottish electoral behaviour has changed in the past two decades and, if so, which events affected the transformation.