The Scottish National Party and the Challenge of Political Representation

Abstract

First paragraph of chapter: During their lifetime, political parties face a range of strategic dilemmas.Some involve the dilemma between vote, office and policy success(Strøm 1990; De Winter 1998: 238-40). Some revolve around the exactnature of party goals, policies or coalition strategies. However, in somecases, parties also face some fundamental strategic and organisationalchoices about whether to become parties at all in terms of standing candidatesat elections, establishing distinct party platforms and operatingexclusive membership through an organisation that is independent ofother political parties. As will be discussed below in the case of the ScottishNational Party (SNP), such strategic and organisational choices areby no means straightforward but can involve vigorous internal debate,divisions and splits. Such choices might also not be one-off events, butrather recurrent due to fluctuating levels of electoral success and occasionswhen alternative strategies appear attractive. Both endogenous andexogenous factors are responsible for such developments in the life of aparty, as they face strategic choices and organisational challenges(McAllister 1981: 238).