British Questions: A Non-Instrumentalist Answer

摘要

It is the argument of this article that interpreting the UK in instrumental terms, while highlighting important issues of policy and institutional coordination, is inadequate for a full understanding of the British question. Tracing the instrumentalist thesis in historical, constitutional and political argument, the article points out the limits of this style of thinking and suggests that there is a non-instrumental factor of multinational allegiance which helps to explain continuity in the state.