Popular Politics and Political Culture

This book presents a distinctive reading of inter-war Scottish politics, reinterpreting the consequences of the expanded electorate after 1918 by focusing on changing perceptions of the radical political culture of urban Scotland. It re-evaluates the factors behind the decline of the Scottish radical left in the inter-war years, demonstrating the role of changing conceptions of political representation, and explores the extent to which national party loyalties replaced local class identities. Drawing upon a range of untapped sources including local newspapers, cartoons, and contemporary accounts of demonstrations, the book illuminates the political perspectives of ordinary Scots in an age of mass democracy.