Through ideas relating to identity and culture, this text outlines historical perspectives of Wales and explores path dependency in an institution that has evolved over the past twenty-five years. The notion of “devolution as process” within a Welsh context is investigated in relation to comprehensions and awareness of distinct political and cultural dimensions. Human beings are thrown into communities/societies at a particular time in history where they form identities and make sense of being-in-the-world. Historical events and experiences have sculpted Welsh socio-cultural existence and, during the early twenty-first century, the formation of the Assembly/Senedd incrementally eroded a “democratic deficit” and provided levels of self-determination. Wales is in a perpetual state of becoming and the Assembly/Senedd encompasses a vehicle by which this process may be observed and assessed. Indeed, the Assembly/Senedd reflects conditions of being, which through path dependency and membership agency explicates Welsh identities and cultural perspectives relating to inclusive representation, accountable autonomy, and transparent democracy.
