DECENTRALIZATION AND POWER DISTRIBUTION: THE EVOLVING ARCHITECTURE OF THE UK POLITICAL SYSTEM

Abstract

This article advances a critical re-evaluation of the United Kingdom’s political system by interrogating the evolving relationship between decentralization and power distribution in the 21st century. While existing scholarship has extensively documented the institutional mechanics of devolution, it has insufficiently theorized the systemic consequences of asymmetrical decentralization for constitutional coherence and state stability. Addressing this gap, the study conceptualizes the UK as an emergent hybrid polity characterized by dynamic tensions between central authority and territorially dispersed governance. Drawing on multi-level governance theory, historical institutionalism, and constitutional pluralism, the article develops an original analytical framework to examine how authority is negotiated, contested, and reconfigured across institutional levels. Particular attention is devoted to the post-Brexit context, where the repatriation of powers has intensified intergovernmental conflict and exposed structural ambiguities in the UK’s uncodified constitution. The findings demonstrate that decentralization in the UK has produced a paradoxical outcome: it has simultaneously enhanced democratic responsiveness and exacerbated institutional fragmentation. The article argues that the UK political system is undergoing a transition from pragmatic flexibility to systemic strain, thereby challenging its long-term sustainability. This research contributes to high-level debates on state transformation, offering a theoretically informed and empirically grounded reassessment of contemporary governance in complex polities.