Devolution in the United Kingdom: origins, forms and evolution

One of the most recent transformations of the structure of a state came in the aftermath of Belgian federalisation. The United Kingdom underwent a process of empowerment of regional entities after Labour’s landslide victory of 1997. British devolution, however, took a very different form, one that is both less extensive and more asymmetrical than the form of federalism chosen in Belgium. This paper describes the institutional set-up of devolution in Scotland and Wales, reports the results of the devolved elections and discusses the political debates on the future of devolution. It shows that devolution, which Labour envisioned as a way to settle the debates on self-rule in eth Celtic fringes, is instead a process.