Extending Ethnolinguistic Democracy in Europe: The Case of Wales

Abstract

The recent establishment of political devolution in Scotland and Wales would appear to herald far greater national, and eventually regional autonomy within a British state long dominated by England. However, support for devolution in Wales remains, at best, ambivalent; in contrast to Scotland where devolution is far more strongly supported. Much of this can be explained by the fact that Wales, unlike Scotland, is almost indistinguishable from England with respect to its institutional structure. As such, Wales has historically sought a distinctive identity from England principally through the promotion and retention of Welsh language and culture within rather than outside these shared institutional arrangements. This, in turn, has led in recent years to a significantly increased role for the Welsh language in the public domain in Wales, after centuries of proscription, and the emergence of a nascent Welsh bilingual state. The prospect of greater self-government is likely to solidify these developments. However, it can be argued that the contribution of Wales is most significant here not as an example of political devolution but as a model of ethnolinguistic democracy. In this latter respect, Wales provides us with a democratic model that specifically accommodates and promotes bilingualism and minority language rights while, in so doing, redefining the traditional role of language(s) in the nation-state. Both these aspects offer important lessons for the rest of Europe's nation-states which, despite moves to greater political devolution and regionalism, often remain reluctant to protect, let alone foster the minority languages still spoken within their borders.