Abstract
The chapter first analyses the historical experiences of the four principal territories within the UK to explain why substantial powers have been devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland—but not to England. It describes the current ‘asymmetric’ governance structures in the different parts of the UK and also the institutions and practices that aim to keep the system ‘united’. Legally and politically, the UK remains a unitary state with power concentrated at the centre, as shown by serious reductions in the autonomy of local governments. The chapter concludes that, despite the devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the UK is not a decentralised state. Even the new parliaments have little protection in a country without a Constitution.
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Burnham, J. (2017). Fragmentation and Central Control: Competing Forces in a Disunited Kingdom. In: Ruano, J., Profiroiu, M. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Decentralisation in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32437-1_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32437-1_6
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