Devolution after Empire

This article questions the claim that the UK is a unitary state. It argues that the UK was, and perhaps is, an empire. Empires are states in which questions of subsidiarity are inescapable and ongoing. Like unitary states, they have a supreme central government. But unlike unitary states, empires conceal multiple constitutional orders, overlaid with the veneer of sovereignty. The nature of the UK territory was ambiguous under empire. It still is. The UK is not a state where all parts bear the same relationship to the centre; rather, the constituent parts of the UK bear separate relationships to the centre. The article explores how imperial structures continue to influence that territorial settlement. The UK constitution ultimately resolved large-scale problems of subsidiarity in a global empire. It remains to be seen whether that same structure can solve smaller problems.