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ECPR

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Welsh Language Revitalization: A Historical Institutionalist Analysis of State Traditions and Language Regimes

Institutions

Abstract

Efforts are underway to develop a stronger political science perspective on the practice of language policy and planning. Amongst the most recent contributions are those that adopt a historical institutionalist approach in order to explain the implications of state traditions for the language regimes that have emerged in different locations. In this context, this paper will draw upon historical institutionalism in order to analyse the nature of the language regime that has developed in a particular minority language context, that of Welsh in Wales. To date, research on language policy in Wales has focused predominantly on either examining the historical context to these efforts, or on examining the nature of the statutory and institutional context for language policy and planning activities. However, close analysis of interrelationships between the processes and actors that have enabled changes in language policy and planning frameworks has been lacking. Overall, the understanding of language policy in Wales would benefit from the adoption of a stronger political science perspective, and in this case, a historical institutionalist analysis that seeks to understand the implications of state traditions for the nature of language policy choices. More broadly, the paper seeks to contribute to the general literature on state traditions and language regimes by evaluating the benefits of considering language regimes in a more multi-level framework, thus taking greater account of how institutional arrangements at multiple levels (continental, state and sub-state levels) condition language policy choices.