Abstract
This article looks at the dynamics of intergovernmental relations (IGR) in the context of UK devolution and how these have been affected by the more widespread occurrence of party incongruence since 2007. As predicted by the hypotheses in the introduction to this special issue, we first show how the asymmetric design of devolution is conducive to bilateral and weakly institutionalised IGR, and how the asymmetric design of UK devolution has been perpetuated since devolution was implemented in 1999. Yet, although devolution (unlike federalism) implies a constitutional hierarchy between levels, in the second part of the article we demonstrate that UK governments have used their constitutional muscle with some restraint, in part for fear of losing electoral support and legitimacy among their electorates. Finally, although the absence of wide-scale intergovernmental conflict in the face of party incongruence is consistent with the third hypothesis of the introduction, we argue that this is not simply the result of the devolved state alone, but also of other institutional features and the presence of political context in which neither the UK government nor the devolved governments would benefit from a path that prioritises intergovernmental conflict over cooperation.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The Good Friday Agreement – also known as the Belfast Agreement – was endorsed by most of the political parties in Northern Ireland (excluding the Democratic Unionist Party) and incorporated an international treaty agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Among other matters relating to the peace process and the cessation of armed conflict, it set out the principles upon which devolution would work, and recognised the legitimacy of both the unionist desire to remain within the United Kingdom and the nationalist goal of a united Ireland.
References
AWCR. (2009) All Wales Convention Report. All Wales Convention, November.
BBC. (1 October 2009) Morgan’s bumpy path to the top, by Phil Parry, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8257363.stm.
Birrell, J. (2012) Intergovernmental relations and political parties in Northern Ireland. British Journal of Politics and Intergovernmental Relations 14 (2): 270–284.
Bogdanor, V. (1979) Devolution, 1st edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bogdanor, V. (1999) Devolution in the United Kingdom, 2nd revised edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bradbury, J. (1998) The devolution debate in Wales: The politics of a developing union state? Regional & Federal Studies 8(1): 120–139. Reprinted in Elcock, H. and Keating, M. (eds.) (1998) Remaking the Union, Devolution and British Politics in the 1990s. London: Frank Cass, pp. 120–139.
Cairney, P. (2006) Venue shift following devolution: When reserved meets devolved in Scotland. Regional and Federal Studies 16 (4): 429–445.
Cairney, P. (2012) Intergovernmental relations in Scotland. What was the SNP effect? British Journal of Politics and International Relations 14 (2): 231–249.
Elazar, D.J. (1988) Exploring Federalism. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press.
Evans, M. (2003) Constitution-Making and the Labour Party. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gallagher, J. (2012) Intergovernmental relations in the UK: Co-operation, competition and constitutional change. British Journal of Politics and International Relations 14 (2): 198–213.
Giordano, B. and Roller, E. (2004) ‘Té para todos’? A comparison of the processes of devolution in Spain and the UK. Environment and Planning A 36 (12): 2163–2181.
Good Friday Agreement. (1998) Agreement reached in the multi-party negotiations, http://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/IE%20GB_980410_Northern%20Ireland%20Agreement.pdf.
Hazell, R. (2006) The English question. Publius: The Journal of Federalism 36 (1): 37–56.
Hazell, R. (2010) The Conservative Agenda for Constitutional Reform. London: The Constitution Unit, UCL.
HM Government and Scottish Government. (2012) Agreement between the United Kingdom Government and the Scottish Government on a referendum on independence for Scotland, Edinburgh, 15 October, http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0040/00404789.pdf.
Héritier, A. and Lehmkuhl, D. (2008) Introduction: The shadow of hierarchy and new modes of governance. Journal of Public Policy 28 (1): 1–17.
Hooghe, L., Marks, G. and Schakel, A. (eds.) (2008) Regional authority in 42 countries 1950–2006. A measure and five hypothesis. Special Issue, Regional and Federal Studies 18 (2–3): 111–302.
House of Commons Justice Committee (HCJC). (2008) Devolution: A Decade On. Fifth Report of Session 2008–2009, Vol. 1, HC 529-I.
House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution. (2002) Devolution: Inter-Institutional Relations in the United Kingdom, Session 2002–2003, 2nd Report, HL Paper 28.
Jeffery, C. (2011) Devolution in the UK. In: M. Flinders, A. Gamble, C. Hay and M. Kenny (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of British Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Keating, M. (2001) Nations against the State. The New Politics of Nationalism in Quebec, Catalonia and Scotland, 2nd edn. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Keating, M. (2009) The Independence of Scotland. Self-Government and the Shifting Politics of Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Keating, M. (2012) Intergovernmental relations and innovation: From co-operation to competitive welfare federalism in the UK. British Journal of Politics and International Relations 14 (2): 214–230.
Laffin, M., Shaw, E. and Taylor, G. (2007) The new sub-national politics of the British Labour Party. Party Politics 13: 88–108.
McEwen, N., Swenden, W. and Bolleyer, N. (2012) Introduction: Political opposition in a multi-level context. British Journal of Politics and International Relations 14 (2): 187–197.
McLean, I. and McMillan, A. (2005) State of the Union. Unionism and the Alternatives in the United Kingdom since 1707. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
MacPhail. (2008) Changing EU governance: A new opportunity for the Scottish Executive? Regional and Federal Studies 18 (1): 19–35.
Midwinter, A., Keating, M. and Mitchell, J. (1991) Politics and Public Policy in Scotland. Macmillan.
Mitchell, J. (2003) Governing Scotland: The Invention of Administrative Devolution. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mitchell, J. (2009) Devolution in the UK. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
Office for National Statistics (ONS). (2012) Regional GVA NUTS 1, 12 December, http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Economy#tab-data-tables.
Parry, R. (2012) The civil service and intergovernmental relations in the post-devolution UK. British Journal of Politics and International Relations 14 (2): 285–303.
Poirier, J. (2001) The functions of intergovernmental agreements: Post-devolution concordats in a comparative perspective. Public Law 45: 134–157.
Rokkan, S. and Urwin, D. (1982) The Politics of Territorial Identity. Studies in European Regionalism. London: Sage.
Ruane, J. and Todd, J. (1996) The Dynamics of Conflict in Northern Ireland: Power, Conflict, and Emancipation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Scotland Office. (2012) Scotland’s constitutional future. A consultation on facilitating a legal, fair and decisive referendum on whether Scotland should leave the United Kingdom. Cmnd 8203. London: HMSO, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/39248/Scotlands_Constitutional_Future.pdf.
Swenden, W. (2006) Federalism and Regionalism in Western Europe. A Comparative and Thematic Analysis. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Tierney, S. (2008) Giving with one hand: Scottish devolution within a unitary state. In: S. Choudhry (ed.) Constitutional Design for Divided Societies. Integration or Accommodation? Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 438–460.
Tonge, J. (2002) Northern Ireland: Conflict and Change. London: Pearson.
Trench, A. (2004) Devolution: The withering-away of the joint ministerial committee? Public Law, pp. 513–517.
Trench, A. (ed.) (2007) Washing dirty linen in private: The processes of intergovernmental relations and the resolution of disputes. In: Devolution and Power in the UK. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, pp. 160–197.
Trench, A. (2008) Intergovernmental Relations, Scotland Devolution Monitoring Report, January. London: Constitution Unit, University College London.
Trench, A. (2012) The courts and devolution in the UK. British Journal of Politics and International Relations 14 (2): 303–322.
Watts, R.L. (1998) Federalism, federal political systems, and federations. Annual Review of Political Science 1: 117–137.
Wyn Jones, R. and Royles, E. (2012) Wales in the world, intergovernmental relations and sub-state diplomacy. British Journal of Politics and International Relations 14 (2): 250–269.
Wyn Jones, R. and Scully, R. (2012) Wales Says Yes: Devolution and the 2011 Welsh Referendum. Cardiff, UK: University of Wales Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Swenden, W., McEwen, N. UK devolution in the shadow of hierarchy? Intergovernmental relations and party politics. Comp Eur Polit 12, 488–509 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1057/cep.2014.14
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/cep.2014.14