Mark Shephard

Role

Social media and the indyref

Institution

University of Strathclyde

Job title

Senior Lecturer

Email address

mark.shephard@strath.ac.uk

Biography

Research includes: views on independence and nationalities; effects of social media on young people; whether social media has deliberative qualities; legislative impact on governments; youth parliaments; and image and voting behaviour. My most recent research on social media has been used to develop teaching guides and exercises for the classroom and has also been disseminated via a Political Studies Association youth politics publication, as well as having been adapted for a worldwide audience in a 2014 Tedx talk on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-YUVP7G524).

Expertise

Social media

See all associated fellows

Posts by this author

Independence and the Union

Implications of varying mandate definitions for Indyref2 legitimacy at Westminster-level elections

6 July 2022 | Mark Shephard

Mark Shephard, Senior Lecturer at the University of Strathclyde, examines the scenario of the SNP campaigning solely on the issue of independence in the next General Election and variations in mandate definitions across the different political groups and academics.

Independence and the Union

Does a majority of seats from pro-independence parties in the Scottish Parliament provide a mandate for a second independence referendum?

4 May 2021 | Mark Shephard

Most sides like to claim that they have the people on their side…that they have a mandate for action…Following the 2019 General Election in which the Conservatives won 56% of the seats (365/650), Boris Johnson claimed he had a mandate to get Brexit done. Also following that election, the SNP won 81% of the Scottish seats (48/59) and so Nicola Sturgeon claimed to have a mandate for the Scottish Parliament to be given the right to decide upon a second independence referendum.

Brexit, Independence and the Union

Drowning in a Sea of Unknowns: from the Messiest of Elections to the Messiest of Constitutional Futures

19 November 2019 | Mark Shephard

The General Election in December is the messiest ever, argues Mark Shephard University of Strathclyde. Voters are thinking in four constitutional futures, but they are unlikely to get the future they vote for.