1. Dicey, Devolution and the United Kingdom.
- Author
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Mitchell, James
- Subjects
- *
DECENTRALIZATION in government , *LEGISLATIVE bodies , *PRACTICAL politics ,BRITISH politics & government - Abstract
There is widespread agreement amongst commentators on British politics that devolution marks a radical change in its constitutional politics. However, the focus of the changes that are generally discussed tends to be on the new devolved institutions in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. Manifestly, the Scottish Parliament, Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies and the executives associated with them are radical departures from what went before. However, any effort to understand the nature of devolution and territorial politics requires to take account of its impact on the centre as well. This is done in the paper from a traditional, Diceyian perspective. It should be stressed at the outset that the Diceyian framework has been adopted not out of reverence for the late nineteenth century English legal thinker but first because of Dicey’s extraordinary influence on constitutional politics in the UK which continues to this day and second its value as an organising framework. It is also contended that Dicey’s work on these matters, unlike some of his better know work on Parliamentary sovereignty, contains consistent lines of argument that have been neglected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2002