The thesis studies variation in the local election campaigns of the Scottish parties in the British 1987, 1992 and 1997 general elections, and seeks to measure and explain the variation in local campaign strategies. Data include elite interviews, an agent survey on the local campaigns and quantitative content analysis of the parties' Scottish and local manifestos in 1997. The theoretical framework builds on organisational and rational party perspectives and theories on the importance of geography for political phenomena. We expected to find substantial in-party and between-party variation in the campaign techniques, intensity, equipment/resources and the local manifestos across Scotland. Furthermore, we expected visible differences between the parties' correlates of campaign variables with region, local party competition, and the candidates' experience. We hoped to be able to identify party differences in levels of party centralisation, and to explain differences in campaigning by these. We hypothesised that: 1) parties would maximise campaign resources in marginal seats; 2) within-party policy variation would be most extensive in rural seats; 3) the level of party centralisation would be negatively associated with variation in policy contents, and positively with targeting; and 4) there was likely to be a positive association between the candidate's experience and their emphasis in the local manifestos. Most of the expected patterns of variation were confirmed, but extensive between-party variations were identified. We were only able to confirm the hypothesis about concentration of resources in marginal seats convincingly for the Liberal Democrats, the SNP and partly for Labour. Further we found that except for the Tories, policy tended to vary most within rural seats; that the relationship between party centralisation and within-party variation in campaign strategies needs further exploration; and that overall, while the most experienced candidates receive most attention in the local manifestos, the Conservatives also sometimes focus on newer candidates.

The investigation explores the potential effects of the new constitutional arrangements and electoral system on the campaign discourse of Scottish political parties. The four weeks of election campaigning are studied, from the 1st April to the 1st May 2003. Analysis focuses on many of the main texts produced during the election campaign, including manifestos, party election broadcasts and newspaper articles. Conducted in the Critical Discourse Analysis tradition, this investigation combines insights from Fairclough’s social focus and three dimensional analysis of discourse and van Dijk and Chilton’s cognitive approaches. This synthesis of approaches is an attempt to produce an analysis that can explicate both social and cognitive aspects of ideological discourse production. The thesis explores the dynamics of party political competition and ideological negotiation in devolved Scottish politics, with particular attention paid to the discourse of coalition and nationalist politics. The thesis begins by outlining background information on the events leading up to Scottish devolution. Discussion then focuses on the ideological character of Scottish politics, both in terms of public opinion and the positions of political parties, as represented by the content of their manifestos. Continuing the analysis of party manifestos, chapter 3 explores discursive strategies used by political parties to construct identities and negotiate relationships in light of actual or potential coalition government. The following chapter moves the analysis onto party election broadcasts, taking particular interest in the rhetorical methods employed in the positive and negative presentation of policies. Chapter 5 analyses the press reception of party election broadcasts. Having established the importance of a nationalist agenda in Scottish politics during previous sections, Chapter 6 investigates representations of Scottish national identity in election discourse.