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Church of England broke with Catholicism primarily for political reasons. Thus they replaced very little traditional Catholic theology, except to substitute the Crown for the Pope as the head of the Church. The Scots on the other hand were primarily Presbyterian, a movement which was the result of a strong theological rejection of certain Catholic teachings. In particular they were sceptical of the authority of the Pope and priesthood generally, which they rejected in favour of the priesthood of all believers. This doctrine was seen by both sides as radically undermining the authority not just of the priestly class, but of the aristocracy since it was essentially democratic.

Islam is the largest non-Christian religion in Scotland, although its numbers remain very small.

From 1885 to 1918 the Liberal party almost totally dominated Scottish politics. Only in the khaki election of 1900 did the Conservative Party -- known as the Unionists in Scotland -- win a majority of seats.

A number of other Christian denominations exist in Scotland, amongst them Roman Catholicism, which made a comeback through immigration from Ireland, after Protestants brutally repressed it during the 16th to late 18th centuries. It has now become the largest faith after The Kirk. As well as The Kirk we find various other Protestant churches, including the Scottish Episcopal Church, which forms a full part of the Anglican Communion, and the Free Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian off-shoot from the established Church of Scotland.

Before 1975 local government in Scotland was organised on the county system. In reforms that took effect from 1975, the Conservative government of Edward Heath introduced a system of two-tier local government in Scotland, divided between large Regional Councils and smaller District Councils. The only exceptions to this were the three Island Councils, Western Isles, Shetland and Orkney which had the combined powers of Regions and Districts. In 1995 the Conservative government of John Major decided to abolish this system and merge their powers into new Unitary Authorities, roughly equivalent to the old counties.

Scotland has many national sporting associations, such as the Scottish Football Association (SFA) or the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU). This gives the country independent representation at many international sporting events such as the football World Cup. Scotland cannot compete in the Olympic Games independently however, and Scottish athletes must compete as part of the Great Britain team if they wish to take part. Scotland does however send its own team to compete in the Commonwealth Games.

At one stage, Scottish peers were entitled to elect sixteen representative peers to the House of Lords. In 1963, the Peerage Act was passed, allowing every Scottish peer to sit in the House of Lords. However, since the current Labour government's reforms of that house this is no longer the case and hereditary Scottish peers have to stand for election from amongst all eligible peers to sit in the house as part of a group of 92 entitled to do so.

Historically the politics of Scotland have reflected those of the UK as a whole, although with some differences. For example, besides the main UK-wide political parties (Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats) a number of Scottish-specific parties operate. These include the Scottish National Party (SNP), the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and the Scottish Green Party. These parties became more of a force in Scottish politics after the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1998.

In 1997, the Blair Labour government of the United Kingdom held referendums on the issue of devolution: the creation of national assemblies in each of the three countries of the UK except England. Voters in all three countries voted in the affirmative, reversing parts of the three-hundred year old Union of the Parliaments. The new Scottish Parliament stands next to Holyrood House in Edinburgh.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) was formed in the 1930s with the aim of achieving Scottish independence. They are broadly on the left-of-centre and are in the European Social-Democratic mould. They are currently the second most popular party electorally, although their highpoint appears to have been in the 1970s.