State and Nation in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The United Kingdom is not a nation-state but a political union. It was formed by the coming together, over centuries, of territories which retained their own national identities and institutions. Key questions of demos (the people), telos (the purpose of union), ethos (binding values) and the locus of sovereignty were never definitively resolved. Since 1999, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have had their own self-governing institutions within the Union. Devolution was an effort to stabilize the Union in the face of centrifugal pressures, but it left the same key questions unresolved. The Union is now contested in all four of its component parts and fundamental questions are raised about the meaning of political, social and economic union. Unionism, as doctrine and practice appears to have lost its way, unable to adjust to devolution. Brexit has added to the strains because membership of the European Union provided an external support system for the union of the United Kingdom itself. Yet the UK cannot easily fall apart into its constituent nations, and public opinion still appears largely content with the idea of a plurinational union. There is no definitive answer to the question of state and nation within the United Kingdom.

Investigating the Differential Effects of Early Child Care and Education in Reducing Gender and Racial Academic Achievement Gaps From Kindergarten to 8th Grade

“…Also, Head Start or Prekindergarten programs are more likely to have educators with additional education and certifications compared to child care or home-based settings (Friedman-Krauss et al, 2021). Lastly, funding mechanisms are also noticeably different across different ECCE settings, in that many home-based programs do not qualify or receive comparable funding resources compared to child care, Head Start, or Pre-K (Friedman-Krauss et al, 2020;Keating et al, 2021).…”

Factors Associated With Service Referrals and Uptake in Early Head Start

“…Evidence shows that the children and families served by EHS are more likely than their peers to have experienced a potentially traumatic event. Within the United States, nearly 8% of infants and toddlers have already had two or more adverse experiences (Keating et al, 2021). Studies in early care and education settings, including EHS, reveal a higher incidence of childhood trauma among both primary caregivers and children.…”

“…Studies in early care and education settings, including EHS, reveal a higher incidence of childhood trauma among both primary caregivers and children. It is estimated that as many as 60% to 85% of EHS and Head Start children have experienced trauma, many of them with multiple exposures to potentially traumatic events (Blodgett, 2014;Saint Gilles & Carlson, 2015), compared with the general population of young children, with an estimated rate of trauma exposure around 20% (Keating et al, 2021). An EHS parent/caregiver with multiple traumatic events in their history is more likely to have a child in EHS that has experienced at least one trauma (Blodgett, 2014).…”

Broadcasting and devolution: Radical future?

“…The Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, may have a similar desire but it does not currently occupy the dominant position in Wales that the SNP has in Scotland. At Stormont, there is a huge gulf between the two power sharing parties – the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein – on the desirability of a united Ireland (Keating, 2021; Mitchell, 2009). Because the current Westminster government is a Conservative majority one, there is no political alignment between it and any of the devolved governments.…”