Modernizing Government in the Channel Islands: New Political Executives in British Crown Dependencies

Abstract

This article examines recent reforms of internal government arrangements in the Channel Islands jurisdictions of Jersey and Guernsey. These reforms represent the most far-reaching changes in insular government for over half a century in response to concerns over slow and poor-quality decision-making, conflicts of interest, absence of effective accountability mechanisms and external critique of aspects of the Islands' offshore finance sectors, upon which their economies are heavily dependent. The article is structured into three sections. Section I outlines the constitutional position of both jurisdictions, the pressures for reform and the political economy of British offshore finance centres. Section II critically evaluates key features of the new systems and their performances to date. The final part, Section III, highlights key themes including the necessity for external pressure as a trigger for reform, selective/diluted implementation of reform packages and the problem of genuine accountability in small jurisdictions.