The aim of this chapter is to provide a framework for understanding the ‘national question’ as an electoral issue. Our overall project is motivated by two broad research questions. The first has to do with how Quebec and Scottish political parties strategically position themselves on the national question. The second asks how voters react to these party positions. While we give priority to the electoral dimension of political competition in our investigation, it is not the exclusive focus. Our main objectives are to understand what the electoral calculus is underlying the stances that Quebecois and Scottish political parties take with regard to the national question and to determine whether or not voters are influenced by these stances. In this paper we set out a theoretical framework for analysing how the national question, otherwise known as the ‘territorial dimension’, structures party competition and voting behaviour in Scotland and Quebec.
