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Devolution in the United Kingdom

Problems of a Piecemeal Approach to Constitutional Change

Bibliographic Data

ID6375477
AuthorsC Jeffery, C S Jeffery (0000-0003-1759-0302, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume39
Issue2
Pages289-313
Publication date2008-11-06
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePublius The Journal of Federalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0048-5950 • E-ISSN: 1747-7107
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/publius/pjn038
OpenAlexW2080318350
LanguageEN
Citations received33
References cited5

The UK's devolution reforms have been piecemeal, directed at specific territorial issues in one or other part of the UK, and poorly coordinated with one another. While this piecemeal approach reflects a centuries-old approach to territorial statecraft in the UK, the addition since 1999 of democratic process and, more recently, partisan conflict between UK and devolved government, has established strong centrifugal tendencies. The article explores how territorial policy variation, inter-regional spillovers, the fusion of UK central government institutions with those for governing England, contradictions in public opinion, and under-institutionalized intergovernmental relations underline that centrifugal dynamic. Most significantly there has been no sustained attempt to review and renew the purposes of union since devolution

Central government · Decentralization · Democracy · Devolution (biology · Government (linguistics · Local government · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Political Systems and Governance · Law · Public Administration

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Unique citing works33
Citations per year2,06
Citation span2010 - 2026 (17)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 33
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