CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2016
| Author | Szabó, Barnabás |
|---|---|
| Title | Imperfect Federalism and the Struggle for Independence: A Comparative Analysis of Scotland and Catalonia |
| Summary | In this thesis, I look into the federal experiences of the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Spain. I argue that the federal design of these states, being only partially federal in functional terms but not “truly” federal from a constitutional-legal aspect, accounts for the permanent dissatisfaction of stateless nations, specifically Scotland and Catalonia, with their position inside the British and Spanish constitutional structures, which contributes to the strengthening and the recurrence of the struggle for independent statehood in these territories. As a result of my research, I find that while a proper federal redesigning of the UK’s and Spain’s constitution could be a tool to curb the incentives for secession in Scotland and Catalonia, the political factors and the credibility of the federal option necessary for such a reshaping of the constitutional environment are missing. However, the current constitutional designs based on devolution and autonomous governance have not necessarily reached their final limits, even though there are certain differences to observe in this respect between the Scottish and the Catalan scenarios. |
| Supervisor | Kovács, Mária |
| Department | Nationalism Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2016/szabo_barnabas.pdf |
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