• University of Edinburgh
• School of Social and Political Studies

Institute of Governance

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Office Hours:

Monday 10.00-12.00

Qualifications

• BA (Hons) Politics and Philosophy (Strathclyde) 
• MA Political Science (Western Ontario, Canada)
• PhD Politics (Sheffield)

Biographical Statement

Initially appointed to Politics in 2001, Nicola assumed a permanent position as a Lecturer in Politics in 2003, and became Senior Lecturer in 2006. From August 2009, she is Co-Director of the Universitys Institute of Governance. Nicola also co-convenes the PSA specialist group on British and Comparative Territorial Politics and is a key member of numerous devolution and territorial politics networks. She presented her doctoral thesis on state and sub-state nationalism in Scotland/UK and Quebec/Canada, and completed an ESRC post-doctoral fellowship on this topic in 2002. Since then, she has published widely in the fields of devolution, nationalism and territorial politics, and is actively involved in informing debate within the wider policy and political community, through media work, consultancy and public engagement.

Research Interests

Her main research interests include comparative nationalism and territorial politics, the politics of devolution in the UK, and Scottish politics.

Recent Publications

Articles and Book Chapters

Voice or recognition? Comparing strategies for accommodating territorial minorities in multinational states (with André Lecours), Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, (vol.46, no.2, 2008)

Does the recognition of national minorities undermine the welfare state?, in Banting, K and W Kymlicka, Multiculturalism and the Welfare State: Recognition and redistribution in contemporary democracies (Oxford University Press, 2006)

'Do shared values underpin national identity?: National identity and value consensus in Canada and the UK' (with Ailsa Henderson), National Identities (Vol.7, no.2, 2005)

Adapting to multi-level politics: the political parties and the General Election in Scotland ', Scottish Affairs (no.53, 2005)

The territorial consequences of policy divergence', in Keating M and N McEwen (eds), Regional and Federal Studies, (vol 15, no.4, 2005)

'Opinion polls in Scotland : An Analysis of the 2003 Scottish Parliament Election', British Elections and Parties Review (2004)

'Pragmatic Nationalists? The Scottish Labour Party and Nationalism', in Hassan, G (ed), The Scottish Labour Party: History, Institutions and Ideas (Edinburgh University Press, 2004)

'Is Devolution at Risk? Examining attitudes towards the Scottish Parliament in light of the 2003 Election', Scottish Affairs, vol. 44, summer, 2003, pp.54-73

'State welfare and the impact of welfare retrenchment on the constitutional debate in Scotland ', Regional and Federal Studies, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 66-90 (2002)

Books

Nationalism and the State: Welfare and Identity in Scotland and Quebec (Regionalism and Federalism Book Series. Presses interuniversitaires europennes/Peter Lang, 2006)

Revolution or Evolution? The 2007 Scottish Elections (with John Curtice, David McCrone, Michael Marsh and Rachel Ormiston), Edinburgh University Press (forthcoming, 2009)

Edited Collections

Keating, M and N McEwen (eds), Devolution and Public Policies (Taylor and Francis, 2006)

McEwen, N and L Moreno (eds), The Territorial Politics of Welfare (Routledge, 2005).

PhD Supervision

Nicola is able to offer PhD supervision on most topics relating to Scottish politics, the politics of devolution in the UK, and territorial politics in the European Union and North America.