Until the late 1980s dialects played a rather marginal role in generative syntactic research. The role of syntactic variation within generative grammar (GG) has to be considered for understanding the changing role of dialects in GG. The locus of syntactic variation in GG models has changed over the years. The three GG versions are transformational generative grammar, principles and parameters, and Minimalist program. A general theory of syntactic variation should at least account for the phenomena in the types of syntactic variations. These types of variation occur both at the micro-, themeso- and themacrolevel. The model of language variation of this chapter is a strong version of the Minimalist Program, according to which all language varieties have the same syntactic building principles. The study of the syntax of dialects in GG has the same goal as GG in general, to describe and analyze possible human grammars as a mental reality.