Governing England English Identity and Institutions in a Changing United Kingdom

by Kenny, Michael; McLean, Iain; Paun, Akash

• ISBN13: 9780197266465
• ISBN10: 0197266460
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2019-01-29
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Governing England examines the state of England's governance, identity and relationship with the other nations of the UK. It brings together academic experts on constitutional change, territorial politics, nationalism, political parties, public opinion, and local government both to explain the current place of England within a changing United Kingdom, and to consider how the 'English constitution' is likely to develop over the coming years.

At a time when questions of territory and identity have grown increasingly politicised, Governing England offers a deeper academic analysis of how England and Englishness are changing. The central questions it addresses are whether, why, and with what consequences there has been a disentangling of England from Britain within the institutions of the UK state, and of Englishness from Britishness at the level of culture and national identity.

This volume includes competing interpretations of what has changed in terms of English nationhood.

Author Biography

Michael Kenny, Professor of Public Policy, University of Cambridge,Iain McLean, Professor of Politics and Official Fellow, Nuffield College, University of Oxford,Akash Paun, Senior Fellow, The Institute for Government

Michael Kenny is Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge. He has written extensively on British politics and political ideas, and is the author of The Politics of English Nationhood (Oxford University Press, 2014) which won the W.J.M. Mackenzie prize awarded by the Political Studies Association of the UK in 2015. He is currently working on a project, funded by ESRC, examining the implications of Brexit for the UK's territorial constitution.


Iain McLean is a fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford, and a specialist in UK devolution since his time as a senior member of Tyne & Wear County Council in the 1970s. He has published widely on the Barnett Formula and alternative transfer mechanisms, including those used in Australia. He has served on the Independent Expert Group advising the Calman Commission in Scotland, and an expert group advising the Minister of Finance in Wales on local taxation.


Akash Paun is a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Government in London, leading research on devolution and constitutional change. He was Expert Adviser to the British Academy Governing England programme, out of which this book emerged. Recent publications include Four Nation Brexit: How the UK and Devolved Governments Should Work Together on Leaving the EU (2016) and chapters on devolution to four English regions in Governing England: devolution and mayors in England (2017).

Table of Contents

Foreword, Alun Evans
Acknowledgements
Notes on the Contributors, Michael Kenny, Iain McLean, & Akash Paun
Introduction
Part I: England and the Union State
1. England and Britain in Historical Perspective, Arthur Aughey
2. Sovereignty, Devolution, and the English Constitution, Akash Paun
3. The Ghost in the Machine? The Government of England, Jim Gallagher
4. An English Parliament: An Idea Whose Time has Come, Meg Russell & Jack Sheldon
Part II: Speaking for England? The Political Parties
5. Interpreting EVEL: Latest Station in the Conservative Party's English Journey?, Daniel Gover & Michael Kenny
6. Labour and the Governance of England, John Denham
7. UKIP, Brexit, and the Disruptive Potential of English Nationalism, Robert Ford & Maria Sobolewska
Part III: An England of Cities and Regions
8. Territory and Power in England: The Political Economy of Manchester and Beyond, Mick Moran, John Tomaney, & Karel Williams
9. London Within England - a City State?, Tony Travers
10. England in a Changing Fiscal Union, Iain McLean
Part IV: English Identity and Attitudes
11. How Do People in England Want to Be Governed?, John Curtice
12. English Nationalism in Historical Perspective, Michael Kenny