The impact of Brexit: polity, politics, policy

Abstract

ABSTRACT Assessing the impact of Brexit involves disentangling the extensive and complex web of rules and relations that developed over decades of EU membership and integration, as well as analysing the effects on businesses, citizens, and the state. For scholars, the exercise is all the more challenging because Brexit has been a ‘moving target’. Nevertheless, what does emerge is the transformational reach of Brexit for the UK, with implications for its polity, politics, and policies. The UK seems at a crossroads. Relations with the devolved administrations will need to be rethought even as the Westminster model appears reinforced. The UK is still grappling with balancing newfound regulatory autonomy and managing divergence from the EU, and its role in the world is still in flux. For the EU, Brexit did not transform into a full blown existential (disintegrative) crisis. It still faces potential existential crises, but these are not because of Brexit.