ABSTRACT
The study of nation states has been dominated in recent years by two strong trends: globalisation and decentralisation. The aim of political decentralization is to give more power and influence in the formulation and implementation of policies to citizens or their elected representatives. Decentralisation in the United Kingdom is usually referred to as 'devolution', though sometimes the term 'federal' is used in debate. As well as decentralization of some powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland there was also a desire to reduce the domination of central power in English government through proposals to devolve certain central functions to elected English regional authorities as a democratic counterpart to the Regional Offices of Government. The idea of government has also been opened up beyond democratically elected institutions to a much wider range of institutions of governance. Governance is now seen to include not only government but also other societal institutions, including the private sector and civil associations.
