Matthews, F. orcid.org/0000-0002-3248-5386 (2018) Fully symmetric federalism – a bold idea, but one that’s not demanded: a response to Bruce Ackerman. Political Quarterly, 89 (4). pp. 595-599. ISSN 0032-3179
Abstract
Britain, Bruce Ackerman argues, has ‘muddled its way into a curious arrangement’ of asymmetric devolution, which has dis‐united the Kingdom, disempowered a significant proportion of the populace, and disregarded the risks of what he describes as ‘mono‐cultural rivalry’. However, whilst Ackerman's diagnosis is correct, his prescription of ‘fully symmetric’ federalism is unlikely to remedy this democratic malaise. As this response shows, there is limited political consensus as to where regional boundaries should fall and there is little public appetite for an additional layer of regional governance. Therefore, rather than bolting another layer of governance onto a flawed substructure, we should instead focus on its repair by reforming Westminster's electoral system and revitalising local government. These two proposals may be more modest than Ackerman's bold vision, but if implemented they would provide solid foundations for the development of a more deliberative and consensual way of doing politics that UK so sorely lacks.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author 2018. The Political Quarterly © The Political Quarterly Publishing Co. Ltd. 2018. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Political Quarterly. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | devolution; federalism; regional government; local government; electoral reform; United Kingdom |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Politics and International Relations (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 27 Jul 2018 10:11 |
Last Modified: | 24 Oct 2019 15:02 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/1467-923X.12556 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:133894 |