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Revolutions rarely pave the way for peace. But half-way through his term as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair has engineered a revolution in British politics that has secured peace in Northern Ireland—a region that has not known peace for much of the twentieth century. If completed, the reforms that Blair has initiated will stand as the most significant changes to the British system in three hundred years. The "devolution" of power from Westminster to the newly established regional governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland is at the heart of the successful peace agreement in Northern Ireland.

The passing of power from the central government of Great Britain to the regions began with the Scottish referendum in late 1997. Tony Blair came to power in part thanks to the help of the Scottish constituencies where he promised a referendum on the establishment of a Scottish Parliament with power to make laws, collect taxes, and establish policy in the important areas of health, education, and welfare. This promise represented a compromise with the goals of the Scottish National Party, which formally advocates the complete independence of Scotland. Under the Blair-sponsored arrangement, Westminster retains policy-making power over matters of foreign policy, defense, monetary policy, and social security. In the spring of 1998 the Scottish Parliament held elections for its 129 seats and began to govern itself in earnest.

The new government in Wales was established at the same time as Scotland's, but this government has moved more slowly to assert itself. The Welsh referendum passed by only a narrow margin, and the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff lacks the power to tax or make laws; it can, however, make policy on health, education, and welfare issues.

Americans accustomed to federalism will immediately notice that this devolution has not been symmetrical—all regional governments do not have the same powers. But Lord Irvine, the Lord Chancellor and architect of the devolution plan, argues that these reforms are proportional to the degree of nationalist sentiment in each region and thus reflect "the empirical political genius of [Britain]."

These profound changes have provoked an identity crisis among those who are preoccupied with what it means to be British. Conservative politicians and columnists have reacted with near-apocalyptic acrimony in a stream of books and pamphlets on the subject. While in the United States, decentralization and greater latitude for local decision-makers has usually been the mantra of the political Right, in Britain the Conservative Party has actually been a staunch promoter of strong central government. Margaret Thatcher, usually thought of as a conservative reformer, believed so strongly in centralized authority that she even abolished the city government of London, known as the Greater London Council. Blair's reforms and his detractors' opposition point to a British identity in the midst of profound transformation and crisis.

Indeed, an identity crisis need not be catastrophic. It can often draw attention to previously obscured truths that can set one on a new road. The spring election of 1997, in which Blair's New Labour Party crushed the Conservatives (winning more than 60 percent of the seats in parliament), was the harbinger of the British identity crisis. After 18 years of Tory rule, the Conservative party had become moribund and inflexible, a government beset by sordid scandals. Moreover, the Tories had failed in their efforts to bring peace to Northern Ireland, mollify growing Scottish frustration, and achieve a common vision of Britain's relationship to the European Union. At the end of this 18-year reign, the electorate clearly viewed Blair's new, more centrist Labour Party as a legitimate contender to resolve the growing crisis at the core of Britain's identity.

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January (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44