The Rise of the English Regions? * Irene Hardill, Paul Benneworth, Mark Baker and Leslie Judd (Eds)
回顾了英格兰区域主义在1997年工党执政后的兴衰历程，从苏格兰和威尔士权力下放后对英格兰九个地区设立民选议会的期待，到2004年东北部公投否决导致进程停滞，适合关注英国区域政治与治理的读者。
‘To be a student of the English Regions is to live on something of an intellectual rollercoaster’ (Hardill et al., 2006, p. 3). For many years of the last decade, it seemed that the political and intellectual trajectory of English regionalism was inevitably in the ascendancy. Following New Labour's election victory in 1997, devolution for Scotland and Wales followed almost immediately. For a time, it was anticipated that the nine English regions would follow suit, by gaining elected assemblies to represent their interests in relation to those of central government. The establishment of the Greater London Assembly and the Mayor of London in 2000 appeared to be the first step in this process. However, 7 years later, the current round of English regionalism appears to have run its course. Elected assemblies did not emerge anywhere else in England and such proposals were rejected at a referendum in the north east of England during late 2004. Indeed, by 2006, the intellectual rollercoaster of English regionalism appeared to be losing both height and passengers, as academic and political attention began to shift elsewhere.