The Settlement and Process of Devolution: Territorial Politics and Governance under the Welsh Assembly
| Author | Mike Marinetto |
| DOI | 10.1111/1467-9248.00315 |
| Date | 01 June 2001 |
| Published date | 01 June 2001 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The Settlement and Process of
Devolution: Territorial Politics and
Governance under the Welsh Assembly
Mike Marinetto
Cardiff Business School
Devolution has been the most notable feature of the Labour government’s plan to modernize
the constitution. Principal consideration is given to Wales and to events since the formation of the
National Assembly, which are examined by recourse to theoretically informed analysis on territorial
politics and the nature of governance. The central question concerns the extent to which the
Assembly can develop an autonomous policy position. Contemporary theories argue that internal
and external developments have left central government in a less powerful position, which
potentially can further augment the prospects for devolution. Events prior to and after the formation
of the Assembly question whether government has moved into a new phase of development. Central
government still commands an extensive range of resources and powers, especially over territorial
bodies. At the same time, comparative analysis shows that such institutional parameters need not
remain fixed. There is institutional space within the state for these powers to be contested and that
the continued significance of territory can act as the basis of such political struggle.
The issue of devolution in the last 30 years has been the setting for significant
events and reforms within the UK polity. This politically vexed question rose to
prominence during the middle half of the 1970s, where it provided the occasion
and in part the cause for the collapse of the last Labour government (Sharpe, 1985,
p. 97). Despite the political machinations and efforts to achieve a measure of
devolution in the late 1970s, these generally failed to usher in any substantive
constitutional change. The likes of the 1968 Kilbrandon Commission and the sub-
sequent parliamentary legislation on devolution did not lead to a considerable shift
in the balance of power or how it was wielded by central government.
Following its election triumph in 1997, the Labour government under Tony Blair’s
leadership set about addressing this constitutional impasse. The body politic under
Labour has mustered the collective will to examine how it can reform itself, its
institutions, and its relationship to the electorate. The resulting deliberations have
produced an extensive package of measures directed at the British State and its
constitution. The reforms are problematic, seemingly lacking a clear modus operandi.
Nevertheless, they have significant and far-reaching repercussions for the House of
Lords, citizenship rights, the electoral system and territorial government (Keating
and Elcock, 1998).
For most commentators, the most important facet of these proposed reforms are
the plans for devolution in Scotland and Wales. There are a number of factors why
devolution has risen to prominence at this particular time. To begin with, it cannot
be disassociated from ideological and tactical shifts within the Labour Party. Develop-
ments on mainland Europe have also had their part to play: many of Britain’s
POLITICAL STUDIES: 2001 VOL 49, 306–322
© Political Studies Association, 2001.
Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
European partners have long since devolved elements of central executive power
to regional tiers of government. With the growth of European integration, it is
natural that Britain finally begins to follow such trends. There is also the related
point that European expansion has provided economic and political incentives for
regions across Europe to pursue distinct policies with regard to economic develop-
ment and self-government.
There is no question as to the contemporary importance of devolution in the UK
context. A great deal of literature has already been devoted to tracing the shifting
fortunes of devolutionist politics (see Bogdanor, 1979; Osmond, 1978). There is
also a growing body of literature scrutinizing the embryonic structures ushered
in by the recent constitutional overhaul (Constitution Unit, 1996; Mitchell 1998a).
In addition, political scientists have carried out studies of recent voting patterns in
devolved territories (McCrone and Lewis, 1999). Analysts are also beginning to
scrutinize the arrangements of Scottish and Welsh devolution and the wider
repercussions for the British political system (Nairn, 2000; Morgan and Mungham,
2000). Be that as it may, Labour’s devolution reforms undoubtedly deserve further
concerted empirical examination.
This paper attempts to broaden the analytical focus on devolution and its politics.
The principle vehicle for this will be a study of recent developments in Wales.
Its central analytical thrust is concerned with territorial politics. In the context of
Welsh devolution, this means focusing primarily on that sphere of political activity
covering relations between the Westminster-based executive and the new National
Assembly. More specifically, the analysis needs to explain the extent to which the
National Assembly in Wales can develop an autonomous policy persona – crucially,
one that is distinct in terms of style, character and content from that of central
government. These points of analytical interest are both relevant and highly
significant now that devolved structures in Wales have been in place for over a
year. These matters prove even more pressing considering the events of the past
twelve months. Here devolution has begun to take affect; in other words politicians
on the ground – at a devolved level – are beginning to up the ante; they are starting
to demand a more distinct policy trajectory rather than acting as a territorial inter-
locutor for central government.
The issues cannot be fully understood by simply pouring over and regurgitating
recent events. Theoretically informed insight about the nature of territorial politics
and the mode of governance is required to fully understand what has happened
and what is likely to take place in the future devolved Wales. Towards this, the article
initially deliberates how social scientists have conceptualized the central-local inter-
face. Much of the emphasis here, as will be shown, is on the way central government
commands resources that allow it to direct and control the activities of territorial in-
stitutions on the periphery. This view of the state as an institution with a propensity
to dominate peripheral territories has come under growing critical scrutiny by
political scientists. Contrary to established concerns, it is maintained that the edifice
of central government power has been challenged and the nature of governing
transformed. Politically driven reforms within states and macro developments beyond
state boundaries are primarily responsible for the transformation of government.
This paper examines the repercussions of these emerging patterns of governance
THE SETTLEMENT AND PROCESS OF DEVOLUTION 307
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