Ailsa Henderson – författare

Until the Brexit referendum, there was widespread doubt as to whether English nationalism existed at all, at least beyond a small fringe. Since then, it has come to be regarded an obvious explanation for the vote to Leave the European Union. Subsequent opinion polls have raised doubts about the extent of continuing English commitment to the Union of the United Kingdom itself. Yet even as Englishness is apparently reshaping Britain's place in world and perhaps, ultimately, the state itself, it remains poorly understood.In this book Ailsa Henderson and Richard Wyn Jones draw on data from the Future of England Survey, a specially commissioned public attitudes survey programme exploring the political implications of English identity, to make new and original arguments about the nature of English nationalism.They demonstrate that English nationalism is emphatically not a rejection of Britain and Britishness. Rather, English nationalism combines a sense of grievance about England's place within the United Kingdom with a fierce commitment to a particular vision of Britain's past, present, and future. Understanding its Janus-faced nature - both England and Britain - is key not only to understanding English nationalism, but also to understanding the ways in which it is transforming British politics.

Until the Brexit referendum, there was widespread doubt as to whether English nationalism existed at all, at least beyond a small fringe. Since then, it has come to be regarded an obvious explanation for the vote to Leave the European Union. Subsequent opinion polls have raised doubts about the extent of continuing English commitment to the Union of the United Kingdom itself. Yet even as Englishness is apparently reshaping Britain's place in world and perhaps, ultimately, the state itself, it remains poorly understood.In this book Ailsa Henderson and Richard Wyn Jones draw on data from the Future of England Survey, a specially commissioned public attitudes survey programme exploring the political implications of English identity, to make new and original arguments about the nature of English nationalism.They demonstrate that English nationalism is emphatically not a rejection of Britain and Britishness. Rather, English nationalism combines a sense of grievance about England's place within the United Kingdom with a fierce commitment to a particular vision of Britain's past, present, and future. Understanding its Janus-faced nature - both England and Britain - is key not only to understanding English nationalism, but also to understanding the ways in which it is transforming British politics.

Bringing together experts on regionalism and federalism this collection explores the impact of legislative regions on parties and voters. It reflects on the 1980 publication of Small Worlds by David Elkins and Richard Simeon, which outlined how and why voters and policies differ across Canadian provinces. Using recent data, the essays in this collection provide a comparative re-examination of the impact of regions.The book explores attitude divergence in Canada and in the US, the role and impact of regional parties in Quebec, Scotland and Bavaria, the impact of multi-level governance on how citizens understand and discharge their duties and the capacity of sub-state political systems to influence general political attitudes. The result is an empirical and analytical contribution to regionalism and federalism studies that demonstrates how and why regions matter.This book was published as a special issue of Regional and Federal Studies.

In Quebec and Scotland, questions of constitutional change, national identity, and national grievance play an important role in the electoral calculations of political parties and voters. Taking a strong stance on the national question can have strategic benefits both for parties pushing for greater autonomy and for those endorsing the status quo. In this in-depth look at issue voting, authors Éric Bélanger, Richard Nadeau, Ailsa Henderson, and Eve Hepburn examine how the national question affects political parties and voter behaviour in both substate nations. Through party manifestos, interviews with legislators, and opinion survey data, this book demonstrates that calls for constitutional change influence political debate, competition, voter choice, and the outcome of elections not only within Quebec and Scotland but also across Canada and the United Kingdom. Minority nationalist parties, the authors show, can gain support by claiming ownership of issues with widespread public agreement, such as self-determination and protecting the identity and interests of the nation. A comprehensive analysis of recent electoral politics, The National Question and Electoral Politics in Quebec and Scotland greatly enhances our understanding of the electoral impact of substate nationalism.

Nunavut: Rethinking Political Culture explores the complex processes at work in the generation of political cultures. Drawing upon extensive fieldwork and quantitative analysis, it provides the first systematic, empirical study of political life in Nunavut, offering comprehensive analysis of the evolving nature of aboriginal self-government in the Arctic and shedding crucial light on Inuit–non-Inuit relations. Political culture in Nunavut has long been characterized by different approaches to political life: traditional Inuit attitudes toward governance, federal aspirations for the political integration of Inuit, and territorial strategies for institutional development. Ailsa Henderson links these features to contemporary political attitudes and behaviour, concluding that a distinctive political culture is emerging in Nunavut. Original and provocative, Nunavut explores political attitudes, behaviour, and institutions in Nunavut before, during, and after the creation of the new territory, challenging our understandings of how political cultures are generated and sustained. This book will appeal to political scientists, sociologists, and others interested in culture and politics, Aboriginal studies, and northern development.

Bringing together experts on regionalism and federalism this collection explores the impact of legislative regions on parties and voters. It reflects on the 1980 publication of Small Worlds by David Elkins and Richard Simeon, which outlined how and why voters and policies differ across Canadian provinces. Using recent data, the essays in this collection provide a comparative re-examination of the impact of regions.The book explores attitude divergence in Canada and in the US, the role and impact of regional parties in Quebec, Scotland and Bavaria, the impact of multi-level governance on how citizens understand and discharge their duties and the capacity of sub-state political systems to influence general political attitudes. The result is an empirical and analytical contribution to regionalism and federalism studies that demonstrates how and why regions matter.This book was published as a special issue of Regional and Federal Studies.

Drawing on data from the Scottish Referendum Study and subsequent Scottish Election Studies, this book provides the first in depth analysis of how voters engaged with the independence referendum in 2014 and what impact this has had on vote choice, polarisation and engagement in Scotland since then.