Have you ever dated that one person who always made all the decisions for you? That one person who asked for ideas for something to do, but never really seemed to be as interested in your suggestions as he or she was in his or her own? Or have you ever been this kind of person in a relationship yourself? If any of these scenarios rings a bell than you might already know that there is generally one decision all of these kind people never made, breaking-up.
Although a relationship could end for a multitude of reasons, a misrepresentation of both partners in a relationship might be an important one. Whenever a person feels that he or she has no agency over his own life, that is to say to live or make decisions with a sense of free will, that person will likely start to address this discomfort to or even rebel against whatever he or she thinks is responsible for this. In case of couples this might mean that they split up and countries are no exceptions. Scotland, for example might want to change its Facebook status after its referendum for independence from the United Kingdom on the 18th of September. So, will this become the biggest European break-up since Kosovo and Serbia? (Or the biggest since Serbia and Montenegro, should you live anywhere here, as Spain, Slovakia, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Greece and Vatican City do not recognize Kosovo as an independent country). Time to answer some questions.
Countries break-up because of misrepresentation… are you for real?
Breaking-up might not be the proper term for it, since countries conscious human beings, however, they are filled with a multitude of people who do have interests. If these feel their government does not represent these interests or even threatens them, they might want to declare independence. Misrepresentation in this case is an often recurring reason. Take for instance this quote from the American declaration of independence, “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it”.
Why does Scotland want independence now?
Scotland does not, strictly speaking, only now wants to gain a greater autonomy for itself. As far back as the late nineteenth century Scotland has received more autonomy through processes of ‘devolution’. In the late nineteenth century this meant that Scotland would be allowed to tend to some local matters for the first time in almost two hundred years. From the mid-twentieth century onwards Scotland has received more responsibilities and in 1999 it has even got its own parliament. Perhaps in 2014 it will take the first steps of becoming an independent state. For more info on the history of Scottish independence check out this short clip by horrible histories and The One Show.
Why is Scotland part of the UK anyhow?
At the end of the seventeenth century Scotland and England (Wales at the time was a part of England) faced some political trouble. Both countries had different parliaments and different legislatures but the same king for about a hundred years. However, at this point in history Scotland suffered a tremendous loss of wealth due to an overinvestment in a possible colony in Panama and from trade and navigation blockades from England and other European countries. In response Scotland passed some laws that would allow it to choose its own successor to the Scottish throne, which could mean that Scotland could further untie its bonds with England and seek new alliances with other countries. By uniting both states into the United Kingdom of Great Britain with the Acts of Union in 1707 an attempt was made to solve both problems. For more info check out this link.
What can the Scottish people vote for on 18th September 2014?
In a nutshell the Scottish people can only vote for things to stay as they currently are, that is to say to remain a constituent state with its own devolved parliament, or to opt for independence. However, should the Scottish people vote for independence, a new state is not simply born. Negotiations must be made about how an independent Scotland would look like, how much debt Scotland would own after the independence, what its interest rates would be, which parts of the North Sea are actually part of Scotland and which belong to the rump-UK and whether Scotland would keep the Pound as currency. In short, with independence comes a lot of paperwork.
Why don’t the English [and the Irish and Welsh] get to vote on 18th September?
The best answer that could be found it that democratic representation comes in largely two ways. (Three if you count the communist definition of a one-party people’s democracy) There is direct and indirect representation. Direct representation is the ones the ancient Athenians used in their polis In short it means that you represent by voting on laws directly, similar to what the Scottish people are allowed to do in their referendum. On the other hand there is indirect representation. That’s when the people elect representatives to make and vote on laws on their behalf. It could be said that the English, Welsh and Irish vote for Scottish independence resides in the standpoints that their representatives in Westminster have taken on the issue.
The UK is the only constituent country in Europe, after Scotland there won’t be any countries who want independence, right?
Not quite and no. It is true that the United Kingdom is a constituent country, that is to say a country that is actually a union of other equal countries; England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for instance form the UK. The United Kingdom is not the only constituent country in Europe; there is also the Danish Realm, the French Fifth Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. However, contrary to the UK these constituent countries are mostly comprised of a mother-country and several overseas territories from the colonial days, mostly in the Caribbean and the Pacific, that these mother-countries have not (yet) parted with.
But that’s it right? There are no other countries left.
There are no countries left, but there are still many autonomous or not-autonomous regions left in Europe. One example is some of the regions formed by the no longer existing kingdom of Aragon on the Iberian Peninsula. Like Scotland it once had its own legislature, monarchy and currency. This country was formed by fusing other Christian kingdoms together during the purge of Islamic rulers from the peninsula in a period called the Reconquista. While the kingdom seized to exist after the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabelle of Castile (the very same who funded Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the West Indies), its boundaries are still visible within the various red and yellow striped flags of the now autonomous regions of Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. The most vocally expressed plea for independence, however, is that of the people in the autonomy of Catalonia in north-eastern Spain.
How many European regions want independence?
There are over one hundred different regions in Europe that either already possess a certain degree of autonomy or that aspire independence or a greater sense of autonomy than they already have. Most of which are in Spain, Southern France, Northern Italy, Belgium, the British Isles and Northern Scandinavia.
Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen
Note: if you are interested in the topic, AEGEE-Europe is sending a group of observers to the Referendum in Scotland tomorrow! You can follow their steps under this link.