News and opinion

Managing a harder border: The bare essentials for an independent Scotland
In a new report launched last week, Professors Katy Hayward and Nicola McEwen consider the prospect of an independent Scotland within the EU and what that might mean for Scotland's borders. In this blog, Katy gives an insight into that report, examining what border management might look like for Scotland in that scenario.

Did COVID-19 change campaigning in the Scottish and Welsh Parliament Elections of 2021? Evidence from campaign spending returns
Following campaign spending returns being published this week by the Electoral Commission, Dr Alistair Clark, Reader in Politics at Newcastle University, analyses how election campaign spending might have changed under Covid-19 circumstances in the Scottish and Welsh elections of 2021.

The controversy over language in Catalan schools heats up
In this blog post, Jordi Argelaguet - Senior lecturer in Political Science, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona - examines the recent controversy over language use in schools in Catalonia.

The territorial dimension of Kazakhstan’s protests
Kazakhstan’s nationwide protests have important territorial aspects regarding their origin, scale, presence of violence, and people’s demands.

Worth the wait? Reforming Intergovernmental Relations
Professor Nicola McEwen examines the long-awaited conclusions to the Joint Review of Intergovernmental Relations. She suggests that the reforms, on paper, could mark a step-change in IGR, but cautions that, effective IGR requires not just a change of machinery and process, but a cultural change too.

Is colonialism over? Six decades after the “Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples”
Ilker Gokhan Sen writes on colonialism - following the 61st anniversary of the “Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples” - examining a number of territories and their administering states in detail, including Guam, Virgin Islands and American Samoa.

The Union Connectivity Review and Unionism
Dan Wincott, Cardiff University and CCC Fellow, examines Sir Peter Hendry's Union Connectivity Review and what it reveals about the Union, covering the ‘Boris Bridge’, connectivity in Wales, and inconsistencies in the Review.

Constitutional History and the Making of the Modern World
Harshan Kumarasingham, Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Edinburgh, writes about constitutional history, and the new book by Linda Colley, The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen: Warfare, Constitutions, and the Making of the Modern World.

What’s happening in Wales, and what does it mean for Ireland-Wales relations?
Jonathan Evershed looks at the important foundations on which to build a stronger Ireland-Wales relationship.