England’s Screaming

Issue 18 of Soundings looks at the effects of constitutional change in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and especially at its impact on notions of Britain and Britishness. It examines the implications of the changes made so far for wider questions of democracy, including the feminisation of representation, English regional devolution, and the relationship between ethnicity and citizenship. Continuing the theme of democracy, there is a set of articles on cities and democracy, with contributors discussing how much room for political manoeuvre there is at local level, particularly in relation to New Labour's reforms in this area. Other articles include Geoff Andrews on the return of Berlusconi to power, Glyn Ford on the crisis in North Korea and Jane Desmarais on literature and anorexia.