FREEDOM MOVEMENTS DRAW INSPIRATION FROM SCOTLAND VOTE
USA Today - September 20, 2014
Scotland's bid to secede from the United Kingdom may have fallen short, but the failure has not deterred other secessionist movements around the globe.In fact, they may have taken away some lessons from this week's vote.
Secessionist leaders from Italy to Spain to Belgium closely analyzed the independence campaign in Scotland and are already breaking down the polling numbers and strategies used there.
The first lesson: using Scotland's example to pressure other governments to allow similar authorized votes. The British Parliament had approved the Scottish referendum as the final say on independence.
On Friday, the government of Catalonia, a region in northeastern Spain, voted overwhelmingly to hold a Nov. 9 independence referendum of its own. The vote would not result in secession — it would simply show whether Catalans favor independence from Spain.
Jason Sorens, a political science professor at Dartmouth College who has studied secessionist movements, said the Catalans can use Scotland's example to pressure the Spanish government to accept the results of their vote.
"They can say, 'Look, the British government let the Scots vote, why wouldn't the Spanish government let us vote?' " Sorens said....
