Government Formation and the International Strategies of Wales, Scotland and Bavaria

1. Government Formation and the International Strategies of Wales, Scotland and Bavaria Francesca Dickson dicksonf@cardiff.ac.uk

2. The project • Autonomous, diplomatic activities • Within/without the EU sphere • Comparative, qualitative analysis based on elite semi-structured interviews • Key variable: government formation/political control • ‘Sliding scale’ in terms of legislative power, regional/national identity, economic strength • Further contrast of federal vs. devolved system

3. Key questions: I want to find out… • Whether, and in what ways, the international environment offers a ‘space’ for the fulfillment of disparate sub-state government priorities • Whether ‘paradiplomacy’ – or quasi foreign policy - has been established as part of the political context in strong/powerful regions • Whether these regions can be said to constitute an ‘international actor’ of any real significance

4. Emerging themes I • Sub-state governments seem uniquely placed to both access and provide particular international goods • Scale of sub-state government: offers valuable nodal points to external actors • ‘Free-riding’? Skirting around/below controversy? • Selectivity of international engagement: emphasizing distinctiveness where there are positive connotations, deferring to state-wide competence when there is nothing to be gained • Context: scrutiny? Parliamentary/Media?

5. Emerging themes II • These qualities combine to create a distinct (perhaps privileged?) international operational space. • Unregulated, non-statutory, only loosely institutionalized (interesting contrast re. EU sphere) • Defined and expanded primarily – not exclusively- through their interactions with one another • Differentiated links with domestic polity building • Draws on multiple sources of legitimacy: particularity and functionalism

6. Summary • Sub-State actors exhibit particular types of international behaviors • Displaying qualities both similar to and different from state-level interactions • They also seem uniquely placed to both access and provide particular international goods • ‘Free riding’ on the FP and resources of their host state? International relations ‘a la carte’? • Scale of SSG provides valuable nodal points: fast-tracked access to policy-making machinery and the good of international association

7. CanolfanLlywodraethiantCymruWales Governance Centre www.cf.ac.uk/wgc wgc@cardiff.ac.uk