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Inequality, Redistribution and Decentralization in Canada and the United Kingdom

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Constitutional Politics and the Territorial Question in Canada and the United Kingdom

Part of the book series: Comparative Territorial Politics ((COMPTPOL))

Abstract

This chapter examines the relationships between inequality, redistribution and decentralization in Canada and the United Kingdom. Both countries have witnessed significant growth in inequality, and have experienced periods in which the redistributive role of the state contracted significantly. At the same time, both have embraced significant decentralization, including the devolution of responsibility for social programmes. Keith Banting and Nicola McEwen examine whether these trends are related. Did growing inequality and/or a political desire to reduce redistribution trigger decentralization? Or has greater decentralization weakened the redistributive capacities of the state, contributing to growing inequality? ​They find that growing economic inequality mattered to both the degree and impact of decentralization in both cases, but the relationship between economic inequality and decentralization is mediated by territorial identity and functional imperatives.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada

    Keith Banting

  2. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Nicola McEwen

Authors
  1. Keith Banting
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  2. Nicola McEwen
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Correspondence to Nicola McEwen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre on Constitutional Change, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

    Michael Keating

  2. Laval University, Quebec City, Québec, Canada

    Guy Laforest

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Banting, K., McEwen, N. (2018). Inequality, Redistribution and Decentralization in Canada and the United Kingdom. In: Keating, M., Laforest, G. (eds) Constitutional Politics and the Territorial Question in Canada and the United Kingdom. Comparative Territorial Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58074-6_5

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