Democratic backsliding has become such a defining trend in global politics over the past decades that the democratisation of the European Union has gone largely unnoticed.[1] After the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, however, the EU has been advancing its transition from a [...]
An Elected Upper Chamber of the Devolved Nations and English Regions 30th January 2023 WATCH THE RECORDING HERE Or in the player below Britain's sufferance of an unelected House of Lords has expired. Reforms have been promised since 1911, but now Sir Keir Starmer has declared an incoming Labour government, [...]
Dr Andrew Black, Global Policy Institute, [email protected] and Professor Sam Whimster, Global Policy Institute, [email protected] Rationale for change and reform: Britain is one of the most centralized democracies in the OECD. Resource allocation decisions are centralized in London, and instructions are handed down ‘vertically’ to the devolved nations and [...]
It is fair to say that federalism makes most UK unionists uncomfortable when it is considered at all. It is seen as foreign and alien to the principle of absolute parliamentary sovereignty located in Westminster. In the 1970s the Kilbrandon Commission notoriously dismissed federalism as a constitutional structure for states not [...]
On 29th October 2022, I took part in the Federal Trust’s conference on the future of the United Kingdom. Though the day had a focus on federalism my preferred model leans towards a form of close constitutional confederalism, which neatly deals with the sovereignty aspirations of the home nations in [...]
Even with the introduction of devolution in Scotland and Wales at the end of the 20th Century, there is a sense that these isles are now approaching a significant constitutional crossroads. Each nation has, in recent decades, developed an individual political culture with clear distinguishing features from the workings of [...]
Joint Conference by The James Madison Charitable Trust and The Federal Trust for Education and Research 29th October 2022 The union holding together the nations of the United Kingdom has come under strain. Challenges include the announcement of a referendum on independence in Scotland, the constitutional review by the Commission [...]
From 'Unidentified Political Object' to European Democracy Essay on the Unforeseen Democratization of the European Union A Federal Trust Essay by Jaap Hoeksma September 2022 This essay aims to draw attention to the far-reaching implications of the recent jurisprudence of the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) concerning the democratic [...]
This article was first published by Global Policy Institute (London). Despite the apparent acceptance at international level of several linked, though in some cases contradictory, norms, namely the (civic) nation-state sovereignty, the territorial integrity of nations-states, unitary and federal governance structures, and the right of self-determination, these norms are frequently [...]
With Nicola Sturgeon having recently addressed the Scottish Parliament about her plans for a second independence referendum, and the Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, established by the Welsh Government, currently considering options for fundamental reform of the UK’s constitutional structures, the four nations of these isles are potentially approaching a crossroads of [...]
