'This pioneering analysis of the impact of devolution on the organisation of health care in the United Kingdom marks a double achievement. It illuminates both the politics of devolution and the politics of health care, as well as the relationship between the two. As such it should not only be of great interest to those concerned about the evolution of the NHS - and the potential for diversity within a common framework - but also makes a stimulating contribution to the wider, comparative health care literature.' Rudolf Klein, Emeritus Professor of Social Policy, Bath University 'In the face of...

This book provides the only available historical account and comprehensive assessment of the factors surrounding the 2004 referendum on an elected assembly in the North-East region of England.
The referendum delivered a 'no' vote of considerable magnitude and called a halt to the programme of gradual reform being pushed through by the Labour government. This book examines the campaigns around and the lead-up to the referendum, and offers in-depth analysis of the result, plus explorations of future options available to policy-makers around the sub-national governance of England (a key...

Focussing on professional politicians, this book investigates the interrelationship between political career patterns and political institutions in two of the most widely discussed cases of regionalism: Catalonia and Scotland. It explores the effects of political professionalisation on regional democracy.