Government Formation and the International Strategies of Wales, Scotland and Bavaria

Francesca Dicksondicksonf@cardiff.ac.uk

The project

• Autonomous, diplomatic activities• Within/without the EU sphere• Comparative, qualitative analysis based on elite

semi-structured interviews• Key variable: government formation/political

control• ‘Sliding scale’ in terms of legislative power,

regional/national identity, economic strength• Further contrast of federal vs. devolved system

Key questions: I want to find out…

1. Whether, and in what ways, the international environment offers a ‘space’ for the fulfillment of disparate sub-state government priorities

2. Whether ‘paradiplomacy’ – or quasi foreign policy - has been established as part of the political context in strong/powerful regions

3. Whether these regions can be said to constitute an ‘international actor’ of any real significance

Emerging themes I

• Sub-state governments seem uniquely placed to both access and provide particular international goods– Scale of sub-state government: offers valuable nodal

points to external actors– ‘Free-riding’? Skirting around/below controversy?– Selectivity of international engagement: emphasizing

distinctiveness where there are positive connotations, deferring to state-wide competence when there is nothing to be gained

– Context: scrutiny? Parliamentary/Media?

Emerging themes II

• These qualities combine to create a distinct (perhaps privileged?) international operational space.– Unregulated, non-statutory, only loosely

institutionalized (interesting contrast re. EU sphere)– Defined and expanded primarily – not exclusively-

through their interactions with one another– Differentiated links with domestic polity building– Draws on multiple sources of legitimacy:

particularity and functionalism

Summary

• Sub-State actors exhibit particular types of international behaviors– Displaying qualities both similar to and different

from state-level interactions– They also seem uniquely placed to both access

and provide particular international goods• ‘Free riding’ on the FP and resources of their host

state? International relations ‘a la carte’?• Scale of SSG provides valuable nodal points: fast-

tracked access to policy-making machinery and the good of international association

Canolfan Llywodraethiant CymruWales Governance Centre

www.cf.ac.uk/wgcwgc@cardiff.ac.uk