Territorial Politics, the Central State and Devolution

2021 ◽  
pp. 273-306
Author(s):  
Jonathan Bradbury
Keyword(s):  
Policy Process ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Intergovernmental Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
Central State ◽  
Political Resources ◽  
Territorial Management ◽  
Territorial Politics ◽  
Law Making

This chapter addresses UK central government and devolution over the whole period, focusing on how the centre articulated Britishness and approached the issues of law making and parliament, intergovernmental relations, and territorial finance in the light of devolution. The chapter places a principal focus on how the Blair governments developed the central state in the light of devolution. It explores the role of territorial pressures and constraints in thinking about adaptation at the centre; the availability of political resources in shaping approaches to reform; choices over the use of those resources; and the policy process adopted in making those choices. In so doing the chapter considers to what extent the evidence supports the proposition that following Bulpitt, the Blair governments sought to fashion an approach also to the development of the central state in the light of devolution that maintained a centre autonomy model of centre–periphery relations. The implication is that they sought this goal both to assist the successful embedding of devolution in ways amenable to the state as a whole, as well as maintaining effective UK government across all its priorities, not simply territorial management. The chapter draws on the published work of Trench, which was based on extensive interviews in Whitehall in the early 2000s, and reconsiders it within the book's framework of analysis.

Organisational Adventures in District Government in Long An Province: Central Regulation Versus Local Initiative

2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-305
Author(s):  
Natalie Hicks
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Agricultural Extension ◽  
The State ◽  
Central Regulation ◽  
Socialist Republic ◽  
Reform Era ◽  
Local Initiative ◽  
District Government

AbstractThis article explores the role of district government in agricultural development in Vietnam's Long An province from 1954 to the present. It argues that it is only in the reform era that the district has begun to realise its potential as a 'transmission belt' between the higher authorities and the grassroots. Under the South Vietnamese regime and in the pre-reform era of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, local initiative was stifled as policy was dictated from on high by central government, with disastrous consequences. In the reform era, district officials have been joined by 'associates of the state', such as agricultural extension officers, to develop innovative 'local' approaches to agricultural development. This has led to increased prosperity but also rising inequality. While the central government has been more willing to allow local experimentation under reform, its influence and interests are still felt, even at the district level. Most scholars emphasise a sharp break between pre-1975 and post-1975 Vietnam. By contrast, this article highlights the way in which there are important elements of continuity both between regimes and between the pre-reform and post-reform eras.

scholarly journals DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY AND COMMUNICATION PROPERTIES OF LEGAL SCIENCE

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nataliia Onishchenko
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Civic Education ◽  
Legal Culture ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Consciousness ◽  
Legal Science ◽  
Law Making

The article is devoted to the value-communicative potential of modern legal science in building a mature, active civil society. In particular, the role of legal science in establishing the general discussion between man, civil society and the state is emphasized. A separate vector of consideration is the coverage of the role of legal science in modern law-making processes: increasing the role of legal culture, legal consciousness, overcoming the phenomena of legal nihilism and legal pessimism, as well as the importance of civic education in modern democratic processes.

The Limits of Regionalization: The Intergovernmental Struggle over EU Cohesion Policy in the Czech Republic

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 863-884 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Baun ◽  
Dan Marek
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Intergovernmental Relations ◽  
Cohesion Policy ◽  
Central State ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Structural Funds ◽  
Funds Management

What explains national variation in the implementation of EU Cohesion Policy, in particular when it comes to the role of regions in Structural Funds management? This is an important question because, as some scholars have claimed, Cohesion Policy has the potential to empower regions and promote regionalization in Europe. Particularly in the new CEE member states, where relations between central and subnational authorities often remain unsettled or in a state of flux, the ability of regional authorities to exercise a substantial role in Cohesion Policy implementation could significantly impact intergovernmental relations and the balance of power between the central state and regions. This article examines this question in the case of one CEE member state, the Czech Republic, where the role of regions in Structural Funds management has been a particularly contentious issue over the course of three programming periods beginning in 2004. The article argues that the standard explanation in the literature for variation in Cohesion Policy implementation—national constitutional arrangements and governmental traditions—cannot explain the change of implementation systems in the Czech Republic because these remained constant over the three programming periods under investigation. Instead, the Czech case suggests the primary importance of regional administrative capacity and performance as a factor affecting Cohesion Policy implementation, while domestic politics and EU-level influences play important though secondary roles.

Territorial Politics, Regionalism and England

2021 ◽  
pp. 241-272
Author(s):  
Jonathan Bradbury
Keyword(s):  
Policy Process ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Entire Period ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Local Elite ◽  
British Labour ◽  
Territorial Politics ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Uk

This chapter addresses the reform of government in England over the entire period between 1997 and 2007. First, the chapter considers the nature of the territorial strain, problem and resources for change present in England. Second, the chapter considers peripheral elite leadership in England — whether through intermediate English elite or English regional elite leadership — and the codes, strategies and goals pursued. It explores further the thesis that movements for territorial change also in England adopted indirect instrumental cases for territorial reform rather than direct identity-based ones, emphasising functional arguments and the development of institutional mechanisms for gradual decentralisation, rather than major root and branch reform. Third, the chapter analyses the approach of UK central government, and in particular that of the British Labour leadership both in opposition before 1997 and in government afterwards. Here, we should note that Bulpitt suggested that the English governing code had tended to parallel the indirect local elite assimilation approach used territorially in the rest of the UK. Nevertheless, under modernisation projects since the 1960s, including those of the Thatcher–Major governments, the overall government strategy was a promotional one, often requiring direct central intervention in the short term to realise central governing projects. Finally, the chapter assesses the policy process by which English reform was developed, the extent to which it may be seen as effective and legitimate, and judged as successful or not in sustaining a new centre.

Analysing Territorial Politics and Constitutional Policy

2021 ◽  
pp. 35-68
Author(s):  
Jonathan Bradbury
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Literature ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
The Third ◽  
Its Analysis ◽  
Territorial Management ◽  
Territorial Politics ◽  
Original Approach

This chapter outlines the realist neo-Bulpittian conceptual framework, which provides both the categories for analysis that will guide the book's narrative, and the theoretical propositions that guide its analysis. The chapter proceeds in three sections. The first deals with Bulpitt's original approach and theory of UK territorial politics and centre territorial management and how they could be applied to studying territorial politics and the centre's approach to devolution in the 1990s and 2000s. The second section readdresses Rokkan and Urwin (1982) and key themes in the comparative literature to construct a framework for analysing the periphery that is consistent with Bulpitt's approach; it also considers how this framework might be applied to UK territorial politics and territorial movements for change in relation to devolution. The third section then addresses the constitutional policy literature, picking out Benz (2016). He shares Bulpitt's pessimistic assumptions of how solvable state territorial problems really are, while also providing the most clearly elaborated framework for studying the territorial constitutional policy process that we currently have. The conclusion summarises the resulting overall framework and theoretical propositions that will guide the book's analysis.

scholarly journals Empowerment of local government in New Zealand: A new model for contemporary local-central relations?

2008 ◽  
pp. 30-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Cheyne
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Intergovernmental Relations ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
The Relationship

Since 2000 intergovernmental relations in New Zealand have been evolving rapidly as a result of a significant shift in government policy discourse towards a strong central-local government partnership. New statutory provisions empowering local government to promote social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing have significant implications for the range of activities in which local authorities are engaged. In turn, this has consequences for the relationship between local government and central government. The effectiveness of the new empowerment and the prospects for further strengthening of the role of local government are critically examined. Despite some on-going tensions, and an inevitable mismatch in the balance of power between central and local government, it is argued that there is a discernible rebalancing of intergovernmental relations as a result of new legislation and central government policy settings which reflect a ‘localist turn’. On the basis of developments since 2000 it may be argued that the New Zealand system of local government is evolving away from the recognised ‘Anglo’ model. However, further consolidation is needed in the transformation of intergovernmental relations and mechanisms that will cement a more genuine central-local government partnership.

scholarly journals The Impact of the Supreme Court of Canada on Intergovernmental Relations

Federalism-E ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Goldlist
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Intergovernmental Relations ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Political Resources ◽  
Canadian Federalism ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Constitutional Adjudication ◽  
The Impact

The role of the Supreme Court in the practice of Canadian federalism, specifically the extent of its power and the effects of that power, is a hotly contested issue in Canadian political science. While some scholars have argued that the Court has taken on too political of a role that must be restricted, this paper develops the Court as a constitutional ‘umpire,’ whose rulings serve the important, but limited, functions of allocating political resources to incentivize negotiation, and establishing jurisdictional boundaries for said negotiations, leaving specific policy decisions to political, as opposed to legal, actors. Concerning the net outcome of the Court’s jurisprudence on the distribution of legislative powers, this paper illustrates the Court’s overall balancing approach, with grants of power to one level of government met with increases in authority to the other, in all major policy areas. Thus, ultimately shown to embrace both a limited and impartial approach to constitutional adjudication, the Court has done much to enhance its democratic legitimacy and constitutional utility.

scholarly journals Decentralization in self-government bodies

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-70
Author(s):  
Kateryna Malyuk
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Central Government ◽  
The State ◽  
Government Reform ◽  
State Apparatus ◽  
Country Formation ◽  
Voluntary Basis

The article analyzes the theoretical and practical aspects of decentralization as a foundation for the formation of local governments in Ukraine. The importance of introducing the reform of decentralization of power on the path of development of Ukraine as a democratic, social, legal state is proved. The activity of local self-government in the conditions of decentralization is currently a priority among the reforms in Ukraine, as new trends in state building of our country, formation of civil society institutions, optimization of the system of local self-government determine new conditions for decentralization. Traditionally, a constant view of decentralization as a process in which independent units that form the bearers of local self-government are formed in a centralized state requires the development of new approaches to the analysis of its content and, accordingly, the search for new opportunities to achieve the goal. The role of decentralization in the formation of the institution of local self-government is crucial. After all, decentralization is a kind of management system, in which part of the functions of central government is transferred to local governments. Decentralization is one of the forms of democracy development, which at the same time preserves the unity of the state and its institutions while expanding the possibilities of local self-government. It aims to activate the population to meet their own needs, to narrow the sphere of state influence on society, to reduce expenditures on the maintenance of the state apparatus. This process promotes direct democracy, as it involves the transfer of control of a number of local affairs directly into the hands of stakeholders. Thus, we can say that decentralization helps to build the civil society we so strive for. As a result of local government reform and decentralization of power, the basis of the new system of local self-government should be united territorial communities, which are formed on a voluntary basis in accordance with the statutory procedure with their own self-government bodies, including executive bodies. The reform should help improve the lives of Ukrainian citizens, as well as build a legal, modern, efficient and, most importantly, competitive European state.

scholarly journals La coerción estatal del art. 155 ce en la estructura del estado autonómico

2016 ◽  
pp. 277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Álvarez Álvarez
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Central State ◽  
Decentralized System ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
El Sistema ◽  
State Coercion ◽  
Siglo Xix ◽  
Autonomous State

El constituyente español ha plasmado en el art. 155 CE una categoría de larga trayectoria en el sistema descentralizado alemán: la coerción estatal. La coerción estatal surge en el periodo de la confederación del siglo xix para suplir las carencias de la justicia constitucional, atribuyendo a órganos del Estado central la facultad de garantizar el cumplimiento de las obligaciones impuestas por la Constitución (y las leyes) al resto de miembros del sistema descentralizado. El encaje de la coerción estatal presenta problemas en un sistema descentralizado construido a partir de una Constitución como norma suprema, cuya tutela le corresponde a un Tribunal Constitucional. Este trabajo ha pretendido analizar la función que puede desempeñar la coerción estatal del art. 155 CE en la estructura del Estado autonómico.The Spanish constituent recognized in the art. 155 of the Constitution a category of the tradition of the German decentralized system: the state coercion. The state coercion emerges during the period of the confederation of the nineteenth century to supply the deficiences of the constitutional justice, attributing to the central state organs different faculties to ensure the fulfillment the constitutional (and legal) obligations by the members of the decentralized system. The engagement of state coercion presents problems in a decentralized system built from a Constitution as supreme law, whose protection is attributed to a Constitutional Court. This work has attempted to analyze the role of state coercion of art. 155 SC in the structure of the autonomous State.

Territorial Politics and Devolution in Northern Ireland

2021 ◽  
pp. 137-172
Author(s):  
Jonathan Bradbury
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Local Elites ◽  
Good Friday ◽  
Indirect Control ◽  
Territorial Politics ◽  
The One

This chapter addresses territorial politics and the introduction of devolution in Northern Ireland. The chapter focuses on the nature of the territorial strain provided by Northern Ireland, examining the resources feeding nationalist pressures for change in Northern Ireland on the one hand and sustaining UK rule on the other. The chapter explores how recognition of resource weaknesses and constraints influenced nationalist and unionist political elite leadership, and the codes, strategies and goals that they each developed. The chapter also focuses on the codes, strategies and goals pursued by UK central government. In examining the role of UK central government, the chapter acknowledges that the political violence had meant that a long-standing approach of indirect control via collaborative local elites in the Northern Ireland Parliament had had to be abandoned in 1972, to be followed by direct UK rule. Nevertheless, the discussion explores how we should analyse UK centre approaches in terms of various phases of efforts ultimately to restore indirect control via collaborative elites and thus the centre's own relative autonomy from Northern Ireland affairs. Finally, the chapter focuses on the constitutional process which led to the Good Friday Agreement, by which devolution proposals were created, and the extent to which it contributed to their effectiveness and legitimacy. The chapter evaluates to what extent we should see this as a successful territorial constitutional reform.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document