Analysis of the impact of the devolution reform on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Abstract

The heterogeneous devolution process carried out in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, further aggravated by decentralized domestic politics, had a huge impact not only on the system of power, but also on the present and future shape of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There is no doubt that numerous cultural and political transformations in the United Kingdom caused by the devolution allowed for the achievement of far-reaching independence by Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and strengthened the prevailing independence tendencies and moods. The aim of the study is to analyze the essence of the devolution reform and its impact on the initiation of the process of state disintegration. The basic research method was a comparative analysis by comparing the political and social situation in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and public opinion polls in the field of independence aspirations were presented. The study presents three models of British devolution: Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish.