Book review: Comparing devolved governance

"Comparing Devolved Governance." Derek Birrell. Palgrave Macmillan. May 2012. --- In Comparing Devolved Governance, Derek Birrell compares the separate governments and legislatures of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Akash Paun finds that the author comprehensively and successfully describes and compares the three political systems that are too often discussed separately. However, the book does not quite amount to more than the sum of its (many and good) parts, and was frustrating for what it did not do, such as make the case for why the question of asymmetry is so important. This is nonetheless a useful and thorough reference work for students and researchers of devolution.