The State & the Nations: The First Year of Devolution in the United Kingdom

The chapters in this book cover the first year of devolution in the UK, bringing together the fruits of a major five-year research programme organised by the Constitution Unit at UCL. The programme comprises 11 research projects, underpinned by a regular series of monitoring reports, written by teams of experts in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. As a volume of record this book is an essential up-to-date text for courses in constitutional law or the UK political system. The book is written by the leading experts in the field, but in a highly accessible and readable style. It contains a mine of information not published elsewhere, with all the relevant facts and figures. And it brings out the dynamics of devolution: -- the asymmetry and instability of the devolution 'settlement' -- the tensions which have emerged in Wales and Northern Ireland -- the growing demand at Westminster for 'English votes on English laws' -- the new machinery created by Whitehall to manage devolution from the centre -- changes in public attitudes and national identity. The chapters cover Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the English regions, intergovernmental relations, Westminster, public attitudes to devolution and the London assembly. This is a unique contemporary record describing all the main developments during the first year of devolution, and the stresses and the strains which are starting to emerge.