The renaissance of English regionalism in the 1990s

The article initially considers what might appear to be the singularly unpropitious conditions for the success of regional government in England. But the argument retreats from a simplistic restatement of English exceptionalism and charts the complex history of the politics of regionalism. Moreover, analysts often import a teleological and homogeneous view of the regionalisation process when France, Spain and Italy show an unpredictable and non-uniform pattern. Also recent developments - Europeanisation, regional administration and the emergence of regional governance - have bolstered both the administrative arrangements at the regional level and regional forms of political articulation. The piece concludes with some reflections on the likely implementation problems of introducing regional government.