Although much attention has been paid to globalization, little has been focused on the relationship between the national and sub-national levels of politics. This work looks at the state in transition, regionalism, nationalism and separatism, and the security forces and the maintenance of order.

Much attention has been paid to globalization, yet little has been focused on the relationship between the national and sub-national levels of politics. This publication has separate sections on the state in transition; on regionalism, nationalism and separatism; and on the security forces and the maintenance of order. The three states chosen - Britain, France and Spain - have historical similarities as ex-imperial, Atlantic seaboard states with weighty historical and institutional traditions. But they also differ in their institutions, in their centre-periphery relations and in their varying responses to the new phase of change. The authors assess the new constitutional configurations in each state - decentralisation, devolution or autonomous governments - and analyse the effect on the peripheries and the maintenance of order. The book also includes chapters on conflict in Northern Ireland and the Spanish Basque country and discussion of nationalist identity and assertion in the three countries.

Theoretical and comparative introduction: a politics of transition in Britain, France and Spain, Jennifer Todd, Anne Mandeville and Joseph Ruane
theorizing the transition - the longue duree, conjuncture and centre-periphery relations in Britain, France and Spain Joseph Ruane. Part 1 Transformations of territorial politics - the state in transition: Spain - the constitution of 1978 and centre-periphery tensions Jose Maria Comas
the British state since 1970 - reconfigurations and continuities, Jennifer Todd
beyond exceptionalism - regional and local governance in France, Alistair Cole. Part 2 Regionalism, nationalism, separatism - the changing articulation of peripheral nationalist demands: Catalonia - autonomous community or nascent state?, Jordi Argelaguet
a changed Irish nationalism? The significance of the Belfast Agreement of 1998, Joseph Ruane and Jennifer Todd
France's peripheral parties - nuanced demands, Fabien Charlet. Part 3 The role of institutions - the security forces and the maintenance of order: the Basque imbroglio - a clash of logics and a multiplicity of actors, J r me Montes
the maintenance of order in a changing state - the reform of policing in the United Kingdom, Anne Mandeville
the maintenance of public order in France - inertia and transformation in the contemporary evolution of French state security, Alain Picard
conclusion - Europe's old states and the New World Order, Jennifer Todd.