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Abstract

Systems of intergovernmental relations are an intrinsic feature of multi-tiered systems of government. In executive-dominated, Westminster-style parliamentary federations, these relations tend to be co-ordinated by specialist agencies located near the centre of government. Such agencies, though small, have been established in the UK government as well as in the Scottish and Welsh devolved administrations. To date, pre-devolution norms of friendly and informal relations among civil servants, and the continued primacy of decentralised, inter-departmental relations, have facilitated mostly cordial intergovernmental interaction. To the degree that future devolved administrations seek more persistently to pursue a coherent set of policy priorities in their relations with central government, they may choose to further centralise co-ordination of IGR. While such a move may well be warranted from a policy perspective, it may well also engender an institutional dynamic inimical to continued amicable relations between governments.

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Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations: The Emergence of Intergovernmental Affairs Agencies

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