Day conference 2024

“Reflections on 25 years of Devolution: Comparisons, Interactions and Cross-Influences”

Day conference, Toulouse-Jean Jaurès University, October 4, 2024

Call for Papers

Devolution is 25 years old. On 6 May 1999, the first election to the new Scottish Parliament and the first election to the National Assembly for Wales took place, just under a year after the first election to the Northern Ireland Assembly, following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. Vernon Bogdanor, who defines devolution as the transfer to a subordinate elected body, on a geographical basis, of functions previously exercised by central ministers and parliament, points out that it is one of the most important constitutional reforms ever undertaken in the United Kingdom (Bogdanor, 2001). The aim was to decentralise the British political system in line with the principle of subsidiarity, while responding to autonomist and nationalist demands from the various territories of the United Kingdom; in Northern Ireland, devolution was also planned as part of the peace process following the period of “The Troubles”. Still according to Bogdanor, devolution could only work in a satisfactory manner if there was cooperation and reciprocity between institutions, in a fruitful form of interdependence. This was bound to develop with time, since, as stated by Ron Davies, then Secretary of State for Wales, devolution is a process, not an event (Davies, 1998). This collaboration between institutions was designed to be both vertical, between the Parliament and Government in London and the institutions in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, but also transversal, between the devolved institutions, for example through bilateral cooperation or intergovernmental meetings to exchange views on issues of common interest, in accordance with the principlesof “goodcommunication, consultation and cooperation”.

As part of the research programme of the “WISE Connections (Wales-Ireland-Scotland-England)” network which brings together researchers concerned with the study of the relationship between the British and Irish Isles in a horizontal manner rather than through a centre-periphery perspective, a study day entitled “Reflections on 25 years of Devolution: Comparisons, Interactions and Cross-Influences” will take place at Toulouse-Jean Jaurès University on 4 October 2024. This study day will initiate a process of reflection that will culminate in the publication of a book. It will aim at taking stock of a quarter of a century of existence of devolution: not only of the way in which devolution has evolved by territory, but also and above all of the cooperation and mutual influences between Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish institutions, as well as of the relations between these institutions and the central institutions in London. Has devolution evolved in parallel or in a crosswise manner in the different territories concerned? Has a dynamic of exchange and collaboration nurtured relations between the various institutions, for instance through practice sharing? Was there emulation between the different territories? One example is the increase in the powers devolved to the National Assembly for Wales, which became the Welsh Parliament (Senedd Cymru) in May 2020. To what extent has Scotland served as a model for Wales? Concerning Scotland, hasn’t it also looked for sources of inspiration and - perhaps primarily - support in the other territories of the British Isles and Irish Isles? Let us recall that the 2021 government agreement between the SNP and the Scottish Greens commits both parties to seek to “agree common approaches with the other devolved administrations” so as to “act as a counterweight” to the 2020 UK Internal Market Act, seen as part of a process of re-centralisation of powers initiated by recent Conservative governments in London (Scottish Government & Scottish Green Party, 2021). As for Northern Ireland, it is often seen as a “separate” territory, and devolution has clearly taken specific forms there; however, have the life of Northern Irish institutions and the debate on devolution taken place in a way that is completely independent of what has happened on the other side of the Irish Sea? Another example is the British-Irish Council set up under the Good Friday Agreement: has it fulfilled its mandate to “promotethe harmonious and mutually beneficial development of the totality of relationships among the peoples of these islands”? Comparisons between the different territories could also highlight mutual influences or phenomena of exemplarity and imitation.

While we welcome submissions on a broad range of topics related to the 25^th anniversary of devolution, we also suggest the following areas of interest:

• Structural evolution of devolution in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland and changes in the relationship between central and devolved institutions

• Comparisons between devolved institutions

• Bilateral cooperation or mutual influences between two territories

• Multilateral cooperation at UK or British Isles level (e.g. through the British-Irish Council); discussions on political, economic or social issues of common interest; circulation of models between all the territories

• Cooperation and mutual influences at the level of political institutions, but also at the level of political parties, social movements and “civil society”.

Please send your 300-word abstracts as well as a short biography to nathalie.duclos@univ-tlse2.fr and marie-violaine.louvet@univ-tlse2.fr by 1^st June 2024.

Quoted references:

Vernon Bogdanor, Devolution in the UK, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Ron Davies, Devolution: A Process Not an Event, Cardiff: Institute of Welsh Affairs, 1998.

Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party Draft Shared Policy Programme, Working Together to Build a Greener, Fairer, Independent Scotland, August 2021.