Search

For two decades the concept of a "Europe of the regions" has animated and inspired scholars and politicians while the argument that Europeanization drives constitutional change has gained credence. This paper examines the role of the EU in the particular case of constitutional change in the United Kingdom and Spain. It argues that the direct role of the European Union is a weak explanation of constitutional change but that the instititional transformations in legal and bureaucratic elites, interaqting with the European Union, have shaped the development of the two countries' territorial politics. The paper suggests that attention to the interactions of central states with regional civil societies and the orgnanization of the central state itself are key variables mediating and shaping the influence of international organizations and change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]