Second Round Reform. Devolution and Constitutional Reform in the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy

Abstract

The rise of the meso level of government in Europe can be explained by the pressures of managing national diversity, functional restructuring and political change. Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom all have such a level but taking very different forms. All have embarked on a second round of devolution. This differs in kind from the initial decision to devolve because new territorial actors play a role. Issues at stake have included issues of symbolic recognition, welfare state restructuring and fiscal competition and equity. The process has been incremental, with issues dealt with sequentially rather together. The process is centrifugal but the role of territorial parties and governments in the process or reform links them back into state-wide politics. The territorial dimension of politics is thus strengthened and devolution becomes an element in ‘normal politics’.