Daniels, Lesley-AnnKuo, Alexander2021-11-172021-11-172021Daniels LA, Kuo A. Brexit and territorial preferences: evidence from Scotland and Northern Ireland. Publius: The Journal of Federalism. 2021 Spring;51(2):186-211. DOI: 10.1093/publius/pjab0040048-5950http://hdl.handle.net/10230/49002Supplemental material file: supporting information “Brexit and Territorial Preferences in the UK”Has the UK referendum to leave the EU (Brexit) affected territorial preferences within the UK? We draw on comparative theories of such preferences to address this question, as Brexit can be seen as a shock to a political unit. We test hypotheses in two key regions, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with original surveys fielded at a unique time (September 2019). We randomize making salient different Brexit scenarios and measure support for Scottish independence and unification with Ireland within each region. We find in Scotland the prospect of leaving the EU increases support for independence. This effect is pronounced among those who support the UK remaining in the EU. In Northern Ireland, religious background correlates highly with territorial views, and we find little evidence of Brexit or border-scenario effects. Our results contribute to the literature on decentralization processes and the EU, and provide evidence of when negative shocks affect such preferences.application/pdfeng© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CSF Associates: Publius, Inc. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Referèndum -- Gran BretanyaIndependència -- EscòciaIndependència -- Irlanda del Nordinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1093/publius/pjab004info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess