Quasi-federalism and the administration of equality and human rights: recent developments and future prospects - a preliminary analysis from the UK's devolution programme

Following the UK's move to quasi-federalism in the 1990s, the Parliament and Assemblies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland gained powers over the promotion of equality of opportunity in the exercise of devolved functions. Constitutional law also placed human rights obligations on the regional administrations. Analysis reveals that the first years of devolution have seen a rapid growth and territorialization of regulatory bodies, such as commissioners, inspectorates, ombudsmen – whose remit includes these cross-cutting issues. Given the rise of distinctive sub-state ‘equalities infrastructures’ in the devolved nations, a key question is whether the dynamics of self-reinforcing feedback processes predicted by historical institutionalism offer the potential for more effective equality and human rights practice at the meso-level. While the discussion reveals a significant increase in the state's capacity to monitor and regulate, examples of innovation and policy transfer – and a cautious, yet generally positive, assessment by policy actors – a number of issues and shortcomings are also identified. These include limited government oversight and a lack of inter-agency coordination. Overall, the emerging evidence suggests that, from a functional institutionalist perspective, devolution has made advances in embedding the regulation of equality and human rights in the regional state; however, historical institutionalism indicates that, while devolution may be viewed as a ‘critical juncture’, notions of ‘path dependency’ towards more effective equalities practice are, as yet, unfounded and significant challenges remain