'Muddling through' in a devolved polity: implementation of equal opportunities

This article explores the issue of devolution in the UK and argues that policy processes between the reserved and devolved polities has resulted in a landscape where there is scope for uniformity and differentiation in policy formulation and implementation between these polities. The article will explore the complexity of devolution in the UK by examining the formulation of a particular policy area: equal opportunities policy. The article provides evidence that when matters are neither reserved nor devolved in the UK there is a ‘muddle-through’ of policy with the potential for policy, in this case equal opportunities policy, being limited in implementation.