
Contents
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3.1 Introduction 3.1 Introduction
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3.2 The Premature Obituary of Parliamentary Sovereignty? 3.2 The Premature Obituary of Parliamentary Sovereignty?
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3.3 Taking Back Control: Sovereignty and Brexit 3.3 Taking Back Control: Sovereignty and Brexit
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3.4 England and the Powerful Integrating Myth of the Unitary State 3.4 England and the Powerful Integrating Myth of the Unitary State
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3.5 The Sovereign Right of the Scottish People 3.5 The Sovereign Right of the Scottish People
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3.6 The (Re)convening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 3.6 The (Re)convening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999
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3.7 The Pooling of Sovereignty on the Island of Ireland 3.7 The Pooling of Sovereignty on the Island of Ireland
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3.8 The Slow Rebirth of Wales 3.8 The Slow Rebirth of Wales
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3.9 Conclusions: An Unsettled Constitution 3.9 Conclusions: An Unsettled Constitution
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References References
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3 Sovereignty, Devolution and the English Constitution
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Published:November 2018
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Abstract
This chapter argues that the UK territorial constitution rests upon a profound ambiguity about its central principles. Parliamentary sovereignty remains at the core of how the English understand their constitution. Yet in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, alternative doctrines have flourished, especially since devolution, which conceded the right of each nation to determine its own form of government (popular sovereignty) and established a non-majoritarian system of power-sharing and cross-border governance in (Northern) Ireland. These developments imply that the UK is a voluntary ‘family of nations’ not a unitary state. Yet Westminster has never formally conceded this point and devolution could in theory be reversed by a simple parliamentary majority. Constructive ambiguity has been retained. However, the historic tendency to allow constitutional theory and practice to diverge may be unsustainable in the light of the EU referendum result and the wider mood of English political disaffection that Brexit has tapped into.
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