Political Change across Britain and Ireland

Paul Gillespie directs the Constitutional Futures after Brexit project in the School of Politics and International Relations in University College Dublin. Michael Keating is Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of Aberdeen and Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh; he was also co-founder and Director of the Centre on Constitutional Change. He is the author of several publications, including but not limited to State and Nation in the United Kingdom: The Fractured Union (OUP, 2021), The Independence of Scotland. Self-Government and the Shifting Politics of Union (OUP, 2009) and The Government of Scotland. Public Policy Making after Devolution (EUP 2005). Nicola McEwen is Professor and Director of the Centre for Public Policy at the University of Glasgow.

• 1. Introduction. Rethinking ‘These Islands’Michael KeatingPart I. Identities2. A Tale of Two Islands: Exploring National Identity Processes in Scotland and Ireland.David McCrone and Jennifer Todd3. Civic Politics and Constitutional Change in IrelandCera Murtagh and Mary C Murphy4. Constitutional Quandaries through a Gendered Lens: Identities,Institutions and Futures in Northern Ireland and ScotlandClare Rice and Meryl KennyPart II. Institutions5. Territorial cohesion and fragmentation after Brexit: Devolution and the UnionsNicola McEwen and Lisa Claire Whitten6. Navigating Multiple Party Systems across the UK and Ireland: The Conservative Party and Sinn FéinJonathan Evershed and Joanne McEvoy7. The Spatial Framing of Wales–Ireland Relations: Cooperation, Sovereignty and PeripheralityGiada Lagana, Daniel Wincott and Gregory DaviesPart III. Futures8. Northern Ireland after Brexit: Beyond Zero-Sum Constitutional FuturesC. R. G. Murray and Etain Tannam9. Independence and Unity: Constitutional Futures on These IslandsCoree Brown Swan and John Doyle10. Unionism and the Future of the UK’s UnionJohn Denham, Paul Gillespie and Michael Keating11. Conclusion. Political Change Across Britain and IrelandJohn Coakley, Paul Gillespie and Nicola McEwen

Devolution is so much better understood as a living laboratory than a set of competitive league tables. This book applies just that lens to the experience of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales over the last quarter of a century. With a new government at Westminster this should be essential reading for anyone interested to combine strong devolved government with a successful United Kingdom.