Towards political participation and capacity: elections, voting and representation in early modern Scotland

Abstract

This paper examines the electoral and voting practices along with different forms of elected representatives in Scotland between the mid-sixteenth and the mid-eighteenth centuries. Types of practice are identified in relation to parliament, the law courts, church courts and burgh councils. The paper establishes a powerful indigenous tradition distinct from that in Great Britain and the British colonial possessions in North America which trace their origins to England. The discussion underlines the importance of deep-rooted and long-established electoral, voting and representative ideas in forming political cultures with high participation and resilient capacity.