Tanja Boertzel s main argument Central government and autonomous communities relations transformed Cooperative Federalism in Spain 17 Autonomous communities of Spain Less competitive more cooperative What caused this change EU Europeanization How did the EU transform Spain The original Spanish situation Central government legislates regional governments implement Regional governments had some exclusive policies Weak representation of regions in national policy making Very limited coordination between regional governments and central governments n Impact of the EU EU makes regional policies gives funding to regional governments Spanish Autonomous Communities receive EU funds and participate in EU decision making Spanish ACs implement EU policies but national government responsible to EU Results Central government pursues closer cooperation with AC Conferences of national and regional governments Regional governments influence national position Relations between central government and regional governments are more cooperative And better implementation of policies because central and regional governments work well together Devolution in the UK 4 countries in the UK England Scotland Wales Article by Andrew Gamble Devolution program Northern Ireland 1922 rest of Ireland declared independence Devolution Program started in 1997 Tony Blair Prime Minister Labor Party The Scotland Act 1998 The Government of Wales Act 1998 Elections for local parliaments in Scotland and Wales 1999 Good Friday Agreement N Ireland 1999 Devolution in Historical context UK system consolidated in 18th century A peculiar arrangement for center periphery relations Formally the UK is unitary and centralized Why did Tony Blair s New Labor choose to implement devolution Electoral considerations The Labor movement in Scotland and Wales embraced devolution More History on Devolution 1960s Resurgent Scottish and Welsh nationalism But in practice a degree of decentralization has been tolerated no written constitution Formally a strong executive in London exercises sovereign power But in practice the strong executive has granted different degrees of autonomy to regional governments Process of moving power from the central government in London to regional governments in Scotland Wales and N Ireland cid 127 Scottish National Party in Scotland Conservative response Thatcher in confrontation Labor and Liberal Democrats embrace devolution Capitalized on Thatcher s unpopularity Labor movement in Scotland and Wales were in favor of Blair Question still remains Will devolution be enough to soften Scottish and Welsh nationalism Is federation a better alternative similar to the US Main argument The devolution program is part of a long tradition of decentralized power in British politics It s not a radical break from tradition But the outcome of devolution federation secession is unclear